Take Me
by xxPeppermintxx109
Summary: "Take me to the halls of Durin's folk," she whispered to the blonde dwarf. The dwarf shivered and tried to prevent the heat from crawling up his chiseled cheeks. The ebony woman in front of him intricately braided his beard. He grabbed her hands with his calloused ones, stopping her, and whispering, "Take me to your gardens." (M for later chapters...)
1. Prologue

_Deep under the mountain,_

_a fiery menace grows,_

_Sleeping under piles of gold…_

The wind whipped past a cloaked figure. It was of short stature, much like that of a dwarf, standing at only around 4'10", if that. The figure was shadowed with a midnight black hood that was pulled across the snowy ground behind them. Footsteps crunched into the snow, leaving footprints behind. One could not tell which gender of a being made them, as they were in-between masculine and feminine boot shape. The boot shape though… It did not look to be the making of Man, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, or Hobbit. It had its own distinct shaping and pattern. The boot was of custom make, it just had to be. But what do boot prints show? One might say the species, one might say the type of person, one might say the hardships. But this boot print shows everything. It shows the treacherous perils the owner has climbed. The hardy nature of this short being. The will to survive, even in the harshest of times. The boot prints show the person in the most subtle way, that no longer could they hide under a hood. A hood that had now been removed so one could gaze upon the snowy mountain.

The black hood fell to the shoulders like a water fall, showing the silken texture to it and the fur-lined inside. A dark, spruce-wood shaded wave of curls roared free from its confinements. The curly mess ran past the shoulders and traveled to around the bottom of the shoulder blades. Braids intricately woven throughout, held pieces of fine gems and clasps. Clasps, that stated a name in the dwarven language of Khuzdul, held braids together so they wouldn't run rampant. Khuzdul…if this being had clasps in the dwarven language, then this has to be a dwarf! And the jewels that plagued the sea of hair must indicate that this being is indeed female! But what would a female dwarf be doing in these parts? This was the land of a long-past extinct race, Dark Elves.

*~•~*

_Dark elves were elves that had been cast out from their kingdoms, mainly Greenwood, now called Mirkwood. They fled to a remote part of Middle-Earth and hid inside a valley of mountains. Their skin darkened to a shade of hazel, their eyes turned a lighter shade, and their statutes became shorter, around as short as dwarves. They had, almost literally, became dark. They had to blend in with the surrounding darkness to hide from enemies like goblins and orcs. Their irises were light, almost white sometimes, and the scleras were a black color. This helped them with having a good sense of night-vision in a way. But they were terrible. Men raped, children stole, and the women were followers of evil._

_There was a king once. He was thin, skin black as night, his irises a dangerous white. He sat on a throne of bones that once belonged to child, man, and woman. Female dark elves sat at his side, like an alpha wolf surrounded by his many bitches. They tended to him in sick ways, fed him like a child, pleased him in propriety-less fashion. The "kingdom" was no kingdom. It was ruin. Ruin created by fear, hate, avarice, envy, slothery, gluttony, and lust. It was a rogue place, filled with the lowest of races. This place was known as Khänshólē, or more commonly known as Purgatory/Hell. It was named that for the fact of how terrible it was. If you found "refuge" there, you were likely banished, or sent to the mountain as punishment. No one willingly took a stroll to the harsh environment. Snow came down like a rain storm, pelting you underneath pounds of it. The cold was nearly unbearable, unless you got into the mountain (where it was surprisingly warm), or went 200 miles west to Mount Gundabad._

_ The reign of the king was long and tiresome. So many died from starvation, exhaustion, or…dieseases. Many wanted to rid of the tyrant, but he had enough followers to have spies (paranoid as he was) to stop their plans before they could manifest. He was like an infected cut. You could have many herbs and medicines to try and destroy it, but it would fight right back until you had the right concoction. But never did the rebellious dark elves have the right plan. They were reckless in planning, they didn't realize the full extent of killing their king. They killed the king after 200 years of tyranny and revelled in his death. Many celebrated, but many were in fear. Fear that was caused by strange activity from 200 miles west…Gundabad. Orcs were coming. _

_ The orcs had heard of the newly dead king of the dark elves, and without a king, a kingdom is usually in ruin. This would leave the dark elves defenseless and the orcs would revell in the slaughter to come. And slaughter did come._

_ Two long years after the death of Maluninth, the orcs had finally struck. Azog the Defiler had planned the attack. He was an Orc of white complexion, battle scars riddling his face, and an Orc of high battle-tactical intelligence. He planned out everything to the very point. If a certain person were to try to fight back, he had_ _a plan to make sure it didn't counter his attacks. If a certain Orc died, another one was there to step up. Azog had come prepared and was NOT going to lose this siege. He was lusting for blood. And blood he would get. For the "army" of the dark elves was not strong, in fact, it wasn't an army at all. All the dark elves had to protect them was dark magic and the scarce sword that those few lucky ones possessed. But not even that was enough. For ten moons, the battle for Khänshólē raged. For ten moons, dark elves fell to the crude blades of the orcs. For ten moons, a female dark elf laid in a makeshift bed and tried her hardest to produce a child from her womb. For ten moons, a dwarf held the hand of the dark elf and prayed to Mahal that his child would be born. For ten moons, a child struggled to escape Death's clutches._

_ A child was born on the last night of the battle. A dark elf/dwarf mix the child was. It's genealogy messed with by two different bloods. The child's height and half of their build already showing their dwarf side. But their dark elf heritage showed with their mocha dark skin and bright blue irises. The child was small, probably too small for their own good, but it lived on. The child was a girl, yes. But she had no mother, as the elf had died as she held her child. The pain had been too much for her small, malnourished frame to handle and she passed into the gardens of Limren peacefully. The father tucked his child away, shielding her from prying eyes, and escaped Khänshólē easily. He had escaped but his heart felt like an Orc had pierced it with his blade. He had to leave his beloved behind, not being able to bury her properly or say goodbye. Oh how his parents would be ashamed, yet proud at the same time. Once he had escaped and rode away from the god-forsaken battle grounds, he looked upon his daughter and placed a tearful kiss upon her ebony forehead. "My Khadinah," was all he had said before blazing into the night._

*~•~*

A furry muzzle was place against the head of the female, softly growling at the grueling cold. An ebony hand placed itself upon the head of the 5' beast and softly stroked the black fur. Eyes of a glowing white iris, slowly opened when the beast sensed someone else. A growl raised in its throat as it looked behind their master, and stared straight into the white air. The master of this dog silently shushed the animal with a silent nod, as if saying the prescence was of no threat.

*"Ozodl ezun hurun ai bulnd," a silk-like voice graced the air, obviously coming from the female, her back still turned.

"It is indeed," an old voice responded as if the owner knew of such troubles of the mountain. The female though was not surprised by the stranger's knowledge of Khuzdul and simply continue on, in Westron.

"You asked for my prescence, old friend," the young voice stated, as if annoyed by the fact that they had met here. "What is it you want? And why must we come here?"

A grey cloak, with a blue/grey pointed hat, came into view. A dark wooded staff crunched the icey snow below, the top of it gnarled as if it were caging something. A grey and white beard lay atop a chest that showed the figure to be male and old, perhaps very old. Then the face came into view. An old face of knowing. The grey eyes showed such knowledge that not even an elven scholar could comprehend its vastness. The man was a wizard, and it was Gandalf the Grey.

"You know very well why I brought you here," Gandalf's voice said. It traveled to the ears of the woman, the wind blowing aside part of her hair so that a slight point could be seen at the top. Gandalf stood there, in the biting cold, and waited for the woman to answer. She was short, he knew that much, but he didn't expect for her to have a 5' tall warg sitting next to her. The warg was bigger than her and sat with a gleam in his eyes. Gandalf had never seen such an animal with anything other than orcs and was surprised at the new revelation.

*~•~*

_The wind whipped the face of the dwarven man as he rode his chestnut pony. A baby was cradled to his chest and he tried to support as much heat as he could to the frail infant. Faint muffled cries emitted from the baby as they rode on into the storm. The man couldn't help but feel like they were going in circles. The air was the same old white, and the sky was the same black. There were no stars in the sky tonight, it seemed, and it proved to be no help for directions. He needed to leave this cursed land and get to Erid Luin in the Blue Mountains. He needed to warn their king, Thorin Oakenshield. He needed to warn everyone of the demise of Khanshole, the Dark Elf "kingdom". But no one would probably listen to him, except Thorin. _

_ Everyone was too focused on the birth of Fili, Thorin's sister's son. He would be heir to the throne and it was causing celebration. He was born a few weeks before Khadinah, but her birth would mean nothing compared to other births of female dwarves. She was a half-blood. A half-blood of a dwarf and a dark elf none the less. The dwarven man would be disgraced. He would be shunned and people would think him crazy. Khadinah would be shunned, called obscene names. The dwarven man suddenly thought to himself, 'What have you done, Frelin?'. A sudden wave of shame and defiance/pride washed over him; the shame for what he was going to put Khadinah through and defiance/pride for bringing a beautiful girl into the world, being able to call her his daughter._

_ Frelin was snatched from his thoughts by the sound of crunching snow. He whipped his head to his left, straining his ears to listen for any signs of life. He squinted his eyes, but dwarves weren't exactly known for their great far-sight, as they spent most of their lives in the dark mines and mountains. The violent blizzard occurring at that moment didn't help either. Frelin shrugged and urged his pony onwards, but before the horse's hoof hit the ground, another sound reverberated through the punishing air. But it wasn't just one sound. No, it sounded like multiple owners of feet and…paws? Paws either meant wolves or…wargs. A sense of dread filled Frelin. Wargs meant orcs, and orcs meant death. Frelin, in his state of worry and fear, slipped from the saddle of his pony. The pony reared and nearly decapitated Frelin, but he rolled out of the way in time. And he landed right at a pair of vile smelling claws, claws at the paws of a warg. Frelin timidly looked up and was met with a snarling grin. It was terrifying for the dwarf, an as he turned around, he was met with a white face. The face was riddled with scars and ugly as one could get. It was Azog the Defiler._

_ Azog was a pale Orc, his face was the playground for obscene scars, and he had only one hand (the other having been lost in the Battle of Azunilbizar by Thorin Oakensheild). He hated dwarves with a burning passion so fiery, one could probably burn in its depths. Azog looked down at the frightened dwarf and a sneer pulled up at his lips. Frelin was a muscular dwarf, an astounding height of five-feet tall, his midnight black beard was braided intricately (indicating the following: he had a child, his lover was dead, he was mourning her still, his child was a girl, and he was a survivor of war), and a helmet rested on his head keeping his hair somewhat manageable. Azog though, was seven-feet tall, and the dwarf could feel it. He felt it in his bones as Azog turned away from him for a minute to shout something in black speech. _

_ Using this minute to his advantage, Frelin hurriedly placed a kiss onto the forehead of his frail daughter, who had been hidden cleverly in his thick coat. Tears started to gather up in the dwarf's eyes, but he quickly expelled thoughts of this as he pushed his daughter into a small sack on the side of his pony. He gave her rear a good smack to get her going, and she bolted off into the blizzard. Frelin smiled, a pained one at that, and turned to face Azog again. But Azog had watched the exchange and Frelin filled with dread. Azog motioned for an Orc to come up, and once he did, Frelin wanted to scramble after his daughter. The Orc held crude leashes to young wargs. Wargs that were waiting to sink their young teeth into something and to taste blood for the first time. _

_ Azog let out a command and the wargs were released after the pony and baby. They were goners, Frelin knew. He stared longingly to his daughter and loyal pony, that unknowingly bolted into the blizzard with a pack of wargs at their heels. The worst part was that Khadinah had just been born the day before and wouldn't know what was happening. Frelin let out a sigh and faced Azog, ready to die. He had sent his baby daughter to death, so he might as well die too. Azog put on a bone-chilling smirk, his disgusting teeth showing, and wrenched a blade through the dwarf's stomach. He twisted the crudely made sword and yanked it out. Frelin fell to the ground in a dead heap, and Azog growled, not satisfied that the dwarf hadn't made a single sound of pain nor suffer, as was his intention. Azog looked into the wall of pelting snow and made a promise._

_ He would make the daughter of that scum suffer if she survived this day._

*~•~*

"You must be confused as to why a warg sits by my side, loyally," the female started, her head turning the slightest. A fraction of her features was visible and proved her to be beautiful in a way. Her sideburns were clearly longer than a normal woman, and they were braided like any other dwarrowdam. But she had no beard, and no facial hair appeared on her chocolate skin. This would make her attractive to Men and Elves, but ugly in the eyes of a young male dwarf. Her cheekbones were set high on her face, giving her an elleth look. Her ears were pointed in the slightest, much like how male Elves' ears were (less pointed than a female's of course). Her eyes were closed, but her lashes were proven to be long and voluminous. Dark lips were set in a lazy line, not a smile, nor stiff. A small beauty mark lie to the side of them, something one would never see on any Elf. But when she opened her eyes, they made her truly ethereal. The irises were a deep turquoise and the surrounding area was white, so unlike a dark elf. She was truly a mix-breed

Gandalf had not seen the female dwarf in years, but since he had seen her last, she looked more dwarfish. If one gave her facial hair, and light skin, she would pass for a dwarrowdam with flying colours he admitted. He saw her turn fully towards him and a confused look settled upon his wrinkled features. His mind was spinning and he didn't know why. Maybe it was because of her dark aura, as all dark elves had. Or maybe it was because she just had a very commanding persona (in a way of course, she was just one of those people). But either way, Khadinah was a powerful figure to Gandalf, and shouldn't be taken lightly. She had massacred dozens of Orc packs, trying to get information on the pale Orc. And the fact that her loyal black warg was with her at all times, made her even more intimidating. She was just 62 years young, mature to a dwarf's standards, who reached maturity at around 40 years of age. But still, Khadinah was a threat even if she was still young in the eyes of most.

Khadinah sighed and let her eyes travel back to the mountain of where she was born. The mountain where just 20 miles south, the exact spot she stood, her father was murdered for the joy of revelling in people's suffering. This is why she questioned Gandalf's choice for bringing her here. She refused to come near this place for as long as possible, but Fate said otherwise. Khadinah cursed Mahal for being brought into this mess of a world and not even getting a good start. She was born in the middle of a war for Mahal's sake! Her father was killed, she was sent off on a pony (of whom was killed later by a pack of wargs), and she was buried in snow for a full day, as a baby! Sometimes she wondered if Mahal allowed her creation just to sit back and laugh at her. She muttered under her breath some obscene curses in Khuzdul before composing herself and turning to Gandalf, who was now cocking an eyebrow at her.

"The warg that sits loyally by my side is *Eziluk," Khadinah started, turning to the black warg. Over the years, the coat of her loyal friend had grown tufts of brown and white fur. It wasn't the fact that Eziluk was growing old, it was more of the fact that traveling took its toll. If they spent too long in a sunny place, like the Shire, Eziluk's coat would go lighter. Khadinah stroked her hand over a spot of white behind Eziluk's left ear, the warg tilting her head just the slightest so she could lean it into Khadinah's hand. A satisfied purr escaped from Eziluk and Khadinah turned to the curious old wizard before her.

"She saved me on that fateful, retched night. And for that I am forever indebted to her," Khadinah said. Gandalf was still a bit confused but dropped the topic. He knew to never press the dwarrowdam, as she only told one what she wanted to: nothing more, nothing less. If you questioned her, well Gandalf could guarantee you would have a pained day. He watched the affection displayed between the two; it was as if they were best-friends, no matter their race. But Gandalf shook his head and got his thoughts collected. He came here for a reason. A reason that would hopefully help Khadinah, but could potentially harm her beyond help.

Gandalf positioned his staff so that both hands lay on top of the knobby top. "I think it best if you travel to Ered Luin," the wizard stated. He knew this was a lot to ask for, but he had his reasons. They were very good reasons, but dwarves are stubborn, so it would take a lot of convincing for Gandalf to send Khadinah there. He saw the woman stiffen, Eziluk noticing too. The warg nudged her master and Khadinah set a hand on her muzzle. She rubbed in between the eyes of the black warg, acting as if she were calm. But Gandalf knew that Khadinah was far from a relaxed mindset. He did not know why the dwarrowdam would be so opposed to traveling to the Blue Mountains, but he had his suspicions: having to leave Eziluk, being with other dwarves (of whom would most definitely make fun of the half-breed, as she had no beard), not getting to kill Orcs (which she was very fond of), and having to act normal (in a sense). Gandalf knew that these were the risks for Khadinah, but he had a feeling she would accept no matter what.

"Why should I travel to the Blue Mountains?" Khadinah asked. She faced the Grey Wizard and held a look of mistrust. She did not want to step foot near those mountains. Why? Because a group of guards had tried to kill Eziluk and herself. One guard was very young, thankfully, and felt bad for her. He had let her go, much to the displeasure of the others. His name slipped from her memory long ago, as it had been when she was young, only around the day of her coming of age most likely. But she would never forget his face. Brown eyes filled with concern, short oak-wood brown hair, and a thin layer of hair covered his lower face. Khadinah knew he would most likely be the laughing stock of Ered Luin, as he too had no beard. But at least he had somewhat of one. Khadinah had none and she felt more Dwarvish than Dark Elf. Another reason why she didn't want to go to Ered Luin.

*~•~*

_Khadinah had finally turned 40 years of age. She had reached physical maturity, and somewhat mental maturity. Most dwarves reached both at the same time, but Khadinah did not. Her mental state was not…up to speed. Sure, she was extremely smart, but she was scarred. Khadinah had gone through too much as a child to be considered mentally stable. She knew this and accepted it. Khadinah was never suppose to be normal, she wasn't supposed to be born (in her mind she wasn't). But she persevered. She didn't care what others thought of her, she didn't care what they did. She just knew one thing, survive. And that is what Khadinah did best._

_ Khadinah urged on Eziluk, gripping the black fur for a sense of security. They had reached the Blue Mountains, well the boundary line. She had every right to be nervous. Word had reached her that the line was patrolled daily, and the guards were dangerous. They were merciless, crude, obscene, and killed on sight. Now that isn't true, you and I know this, but Khadinah didn't. Thorin, king in exile, ruler of Ered Luin, would never allow that to fester in his patrol guards. But when you're busy with running a kingdom, you can't control those few rogues. _

_ The forest line, that indicated the boundaries, held towering trees. They held no leaves, just needles. Khadinah gulped as she looked up to the tree-line and subconsciously stroked Eziluk's fur. The beast growled at the trees as if she sensed something hidden there. Khadinah strained her eyes, trying to look through the thick forestry. But her eyes revealed nothing to soothe her worried mind. She took a deep breath and urged Eziluk onwards, despite the warg's hesitance. Eziluk softly padded through the thickets and sniffed the grass along the way, trying to get a feel for the terrain. But one scent made the beast try to turn around hurriedly. Khadinah noticed this too, and quickly ducked. An arrow whizzed above her back, where her head would've been._

_ Khadinah looked startled and slowly raised her head, looking for the source of the arrow. But Eziluk noticed first, and growled to her right. Khadinah shifted her hand to her waist, where a sword hung loosely. The sword was intricate, the top of it was a bit curved, as if its use was to hook heads from necks. The hilt was studded with a single black diam__ond right in the middle, the rest was wrapped with a fine leather. On the dip of the__ blade was Khuzdul runes; the name read Beheader. A fine name for a fine blade. But back to the startled half-blood._

_Khadinah felt a burning pain in the back of her bicep. It felt like a tidal wave of pain had suddenly caught her in it and she was drowning. A strangled cry escaped her lips, and she fell to the ground, clutching the arrow. The arrow snapped as her arm came in contact with the ground, embedding itself deeper into her muscles. Eziluk made a surprised growl, not expecting this, and laid down by her master. She knew when to attack and when to just protect Khadinah. Now, not wanting further harm to befall the half-blood, she laid next to Khadinah's head and offered a small whimper. Khadinah smiled a strained smile, and raise one hand in the air; she was offering a sign of surrender._

_The first figure she saw was a young male dwarf. She saw oak-wood brown hair and no beard. This caught the wounded female by surprise and she nearly questioned his authenticity out loud. He looked to be about five years younger than her and since she had never met a young dwarf, she didn't know if it was natural to not have a beard. Her mouth slightly dropped, Khadinah struggled to compose herself. She still couldn't wrap her head around the thought and this was wearing her down mentally. In her thoughts, she didn't notice the beardles__s dwarf looking down on her with a concerned expression._

_ The first figure she saw was a young male dwarf. She saw oak-wood brown hair and no beard. This caught the wounded female by surprise and she nearly questioned his authenticity out loud. He looked to be about five years younger than her and since she had never met a young dwarf, she didn't know if it was natural to not have a beard. Her mouth slightly dropped, Khadinah struggled to compose herself. She still couldn't wrap her head around the thought and this was wearing her down mentally. In her thoughts, she didn't notice the beardless dwarf looking down on her with a concerned expression. _

_ "I'm so sorry I shot you," he said, his voice a bit panicked. "I thought you to be an Orc, as you are riding a warg," the beardless dwarf explained, and Khadinah found herself waving his words off. She didn't care why or that he shot her, more of a when she was going to get the arrow out. She struggled to stand from the ground and fell back into the dirt, Eziluk snorting as if she was laughing. Khadinah puffed in frustration, hitting the warg a bit, and struggled again. She wasn't all too surprised to see that the dwarf didn't help her up. Dwarves were known for their harshness at times, of course not as harsh as Elves, but still. The third time, a strong hand wrapped its way around her good bicep and pulled her from the ground. She stumbled a bit but quickly regained control._

_ "It's quite alright," she surprisingly got out. "I would've done the same if I were you," Khadinah stated and held her good hand out. She did this as a friendly gesture, wanting to get on good terms with this dwarf._

_ "I'm Khadinah son of Frelin," she said in an amicable manner. A small, yet pained, smile was on her red lips, and dirt probably was covering her already ebony colored face. But she didn't care. This dwarf reminded her of herself and couldn't help but feel a sibling-like bond forming already. He had a scruff of a beard and was taller than Khadinah (and Khadinah was done growing, while this dwarf wasn't). He was a misfit in a way, and Khadinah respected that, as she was one too. Thus, she held out her bloody hand and waited for the dwarf to take it. Her desires were filled and the male took it, shaking it with a smile._

_ "Kili, at your service."_

*~•~*

Khadinah smiled fondly at the memory as it passed by like a gust of wind. Refreshing, yet not enough. Kili was a kind young dwarf, only around five years younger, but mature beyond his years. He helped heal Khadinah in a jiffy and sent her away. While she wasn't too happy about that, she understood his reasonings._ "It's not very safe right now, come back soon though," _he had whispered to her. She now heeded these words. But she also understood the underlying tone. Don't bring Eziluk back. She sighed deeply, two conflicting sides raging wars.

"You know why you must travel there, Khadinah," Gandalf's voice informed the half-breed. "I mustn't remind you, you only wish to hear confirmation for your thoughts," he proved yet another point in a matter of seconds. That's why Khadinah was irritated by the wizard sometimes. He proved point after point for her and it made her feel idiotic. But the wizard was right. She was only searching for confirmation for an answer she knew by heart. But she had to go over the scenarios.

She would either abandon Eziluk and head to the Blue Mountains, or she would continue on in life. But what was the fun in roaming? Sure, she loved Eziluk with all her heart, and she owed her life to the black warg. But with the faithful warg, she ran into trouble too much. She could just set her free and have to worry about her being captured by orcs or death. But when would that not happen with Khadinah. She thought Eziluk was more at risk of death with herself than the warg by herself; then she wouldn't have to worry about Khadinah's safety ahead of hers. But the thought of death reaping its spoils with Eziluk made Khadinah's stomach toss about. Could she really leave her best friend? She could have one last ride with the companion and on the outskirts of the Ered Luin borders, she would say farewell. It wasn't a bad idea. Khadinah had made up her mind and took a deep breath.

"I will go Gandalf."

_A/N: Welp that's the first chapter of this story. +5K words (around 20 pages, wow. I'm aiming at 15-20 pages per chapter, so expect long periods of time between updates please. I am starting pre-quest, around 20 years, so this will be a **VERY LONG **work. This will be a Fili love story ;) . Please do realize that this story will be on under the same name. Hope y'all liked it! Please comment on what I can improve on or what you like in general!_


	2. Chapter 1

**_A/N: Thank you everyone for being patient and commenting. I love reading how you guys feel about this story and what you think will come. I've gotten a lot of people private messaging me on how they love it. So thank you so much!_**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Khadinah clutched the black fur on the neck of Eziluk, listening to the soft treading of paws against moist ground. She had questioned herself every mile of the way, worried about her choices. What if Eziluk was killed? What if Khadinah was shot again but never recovered? What if, what if, what if. The scenarios swirled around in her troubled mind. She would never forgive herself if her trusted companion met an untimely fate. But she wouldn't know, right? She could live in an ignorant bliss, shielded from the world's poisons. Yes. She could live like that, though not for long. Khadinah would grow restless and wish to find Eziluk. No, she would not think of these plagued thoughts any longer.

The half-breed wiped those poisons away, shaking her head. Khadinah felt one of her braids come loose and sighed. She would have to redo her hair when she rested. The thought of having a stray hair prancing about upon her face annoyed her. She always pulled the front of her hair away from her face and into a braid. Blowing the piece of hair from her face, in exasperation of course, Khadinah nudged Eziluk on. The treading of the warg causing the silly hair to bounce across her face annoyed her even more. Khadinah let a small growl escape her lips and tried to swish the hair from her face. "Idiotic hair," she muttered under her breath.

Throwing her head back, her blue hood covering her head from a new drizzle, Khadinah's stomach knotted. The familiar tree line was on the horizon. "Mahal slay me upon where I stand," she cursed. She didn't think it would be this hard to just see the boundaries. Khadinah patted the neck of Eziluk and stroked the black fur. She knew she had to say goodbye now, or she wouldn't be able to when she reached those cursed forests. Khadinah sighed and slid off of Eziluk. The warg looked at her over her shoulder with a confused look. Khadinah smiled sadly and scratched behind the companion's ear.

The warg knew Khadinah was sad and took no excitement in being scratched. Her eyes betrayed a sign of sadness and her rider felt a piece of her heart break away. Eziluk almost flinched at Khadinah's broken expression and heard the half-blood take a shaky breath. "Go to Gundabad, and scout for any signs of rising. Pretend to be a warg loyal to their cause," Khadinah whispered in the warg's ear. She knew something fishy was going on in Gundabad. It might not have been huge, but it was something. She needed Eziluk to scout there until she was done in Ered Luin.

"Goodbye old friend," Khadinah stated in a melancholic manner. "I'll see you soon," she patted the warg one last time and watched as Eziluk darted into the direction of the Orc 'kingdom'. She knew that Eziluk would do her best. She was a great friend, Khadinah's only friend mind you, and she was as loyal as could be. And as she watched the black figure start to blur across the horizon, a burning sensation ravaged Khadinah's eyes. She quickly started to try and rub them, but they became wet. Wet with her own tears.

Tears were foreign to her. Khadinah had not shed a single one until now, in 30 years. She stifled a sob, racking her body, the slight tremor running through her. Khadinah pulled her fist to her lips and bit down hard on her knuckles. It was like losing a dog, a best-friend. It was as if Eziluk had died and she had said goodbye. The thought made her cry out a bit and she clutched her chest with her free hand. The white furs of the inside of her black cloak strained against her tight hold, nearly ripping from the quality sewing. Pain rushed through her mind, body, and soul, ripping away at her emotions. Ripping away at her love; her heart. A single tear ran down her face and she struggled to breathe. But she wouldn't allow this, she had to move on. And that's what she did.

Khadinah hesitated but turned towards those damned trees. She begrudgingly took a step forward, then another, and another, until she was walking stiffly. The grass beneath her oak-brown boots made a sound that resembled suction, as the rain had made it quite wet. Imprints trailed her footsteps, getting deeper and deeper with every step; her anger and sadness were showing. She did not care any longer if a passerby saw the footprints, as she no longer cared if she had to fight. She would fight with a newfound ferocity and kill with a sense of pleasure. For if an Orc tried their hand against her, she would make them suffer. It was their fault she was in this predicament. It was all THEIR fault.

Khadinah clenched her jaw and her fists, so her knuckles turned white. Blood boiled like a stew over a pile of warm embers in her veins, and she had to stop herself from screaming out. Nails that plunged deep into lightly calloused palms drew droplets of blood, dripping rhythmically onto the ground below. Khadinah's anger was frightening at times, and it wasn't even bad right now. It could ALWAYS get much worse. Deep breaths in and out were prominent by the flaring of her nostrils and heaving of chest. And slowly, but surely, Khadinah unravelled her fists. Her breathing slowed and shallowed. Her blood dying off to a light simmer. She was…calm for now.

Khadinah stopped dead in her tracks. No disturbances physically were found, but mentally, there was one. She stood exactly where she first met Kili, the young brunette dwarf. The exact spot where he shot her. The exact spot where he apologized endlessly until she waved him off. The exact spot where she gained her first friend. Khadinah smiled fondly, crouching down slightly to pick up a tree needle. The needle was brown, mahogany brown almost, and looked to be dying. A saying crossed into her mind as she stared at the lifeless form. 'Leaves become most beautiful when they're about to die. When they're about to fall from trees. When they're about to die.' It was no leaf but, it was beautiful in a mortal way.

Khadinah smiled and set the needle back upon the earth from whence it came; for no matter how high a tree goes, it's children will head back to their roots. A small shiver rattled Khadinah's bones as she reflected on her thought. She was returning to her roots, her Dwarvish roots of course. For Thorin Oakenshield was a friend, a brother-in-arms, to Frelin. Surely he must know of Khadinah, or at least he must remember her heritage. Then if he did, she could be accepted, maybe. Happiness fluttered throughout her body at this thought. But happiness is not enteral, for the echo of an arrow snapping into place against a tight string rattled her.

"Lay down your weapons, or I'll lay down you."

* * *

Clangs of metal upon metal rang in Kili's ears. He grit his teeth as his body forced itself to its limits, yet he still pushed. His mind told him to continue but his muscles and bones objected to the idea. They needed rest, but he would not comply. His breath came in short pants, his lungs tightening. But he would not give in. Not now, not ever. He kept pushing his sword against his opponent's and tried to move for a 'kill'. Kili released his sword from the opponent, causing the enemy to stagger, and whirled around to deliver a fatal blow. But his neck was met with the blade of a sword. His shoulders slumped and he sighed at another failed attempt; he trudged over to the wooden benches and sat down.

"You need to be faster," a taunting voice called to Kili. He gritted his teeth and placed his head between his knees. His breath was returning to him slowly, yet it was taking its time. His hand reached for his sword and felt for the hilt, before grabbing it tightly. A loud laugh rang through the surrounding space and Kili couldn't help but roll his eyes. For years he had been the center of ridicule for being too…elf-like. His weapon of choice was that of a bow and arrow. His beard was light and more scruff than anything. His stature was on the lean and tall side. Ridicule was worse than orcs sometimes.

"I would be faster if you didn't force me to use this sword," Kili looked up towards his opponent and smirked. With his bow, he was deadly. With his sword, he was…meh. Bows were the weapon for speed. Swords were the weapon for brute force. Kili, with his lithe form, was better with assassin-like approaches than kill-block-kill approaches. Sure, he could become deadly with a sword, but he would need practice. And he wanted to be better than his brother, Fili. Fili could only use two swords, but if Kili could learn to be great with a sword; he would be way better than Fili. He loved his brother yes, but they also had the normal sibling rivalry.

"Oh by Mahal's beard, Kili," the dwarf groaned. The dwarf had a long, mahogany beard that went past his chest. His head was shaved at the top, showing his slightly tanned skin, and covered in tattoos. His hair reached to the same length as his beard and was the same color. His eyes were of a chocolate brown, much like Kili's. He was definitely shorter than Kili, but he was a tall dwarf. This dwarf and his king, Kili's uncle, were both tall, nearing five feet if not already there.

"You know it's true, Dwalin," Kili grunted out. He sat up and reached for his intricate bow. The bow was made from spruce wood, from the surrounding forestry of course. It had his name in runes carved onto the left side of it, right above the notch where one would place the arrow for fire. A dedication to his father, Frenrir, was placed on the tip of the wood where it met with the string. It was a simple, small raven, carved out of respect for his late father. Kili didn't tell anyone, but he would lay in his bed at night, looking at his bow, and talk to it. It made him feel closer to his father, who's life had been taken by a simple Orc raid. Kili never forgave, and he never forgot.

"Aye," Dwalin sighed, rubbing his temples out of pure exhaustion. "I will take my leave, Kili, and good job fighting. You have made progress," he rested his large hand on Kili's shoulder and shook him slightly. Kili gave him a small smile, and Dwalin chuckled a bit. The elder dwarf turned away and exited the dueling arena, leaving Kili to his thoughts. He sighed and twirled his bow in his hands. His fingers delicately traced the outline of the raven and he whispered a silent prayer to his father, before gathering his things to leave and rest. But apparently that wasn't on the agenda today.

A dwarven guard burst into the arena, alerting Kili. "Scouts spotted a rogue, my prince. We request your assistance," the dwarf stated, a bit out of breath. Kili muttered some curses under his breath, but nodded his head in agreement. He strapped his sword in its scabbard at his hip. A quiver was swiftly on his back, his bow in his hand. The guard immediately rushed off of the grounds and fetched Kili's pony. Kili nodded in thanks and kicked his feet into the flanks of the bay pony, getting a gallop in response. Kili did not need the guard to show him where, for the scouts patrolled only in one sector of the Ered Luin boundaries.

Dwarves watched Kili as he passed, some in amazement, others not so much. He disregarded their looks and continued spurring on the bay mare. The clopping sound made by contact with hoof and stone slowly dissipated as Kili reached the outskirts of the city and the forest line. The sound of hoof meeting wet, muddy ground became prominent now, as the duo trudged through the thick forestry. Spruce trees filled Kili's vision, making it very hard to navigate, but he had made-do with worse. He heard whispering coming from his left and he gave a quiet 'woah' to his pony before stopping her completely.

He jumped off the equine and made a motion for her to stay there. Kili pulled an arrow from his quiver as he silently stalked over to the hunched over figure. All he could see was a black cloak, and midnight-black hair. White fur sporadically popped out from the sides of the cloak, making it clear that the cloak was for warmth. The hair had two braids coming together in the middle, before becoming one braid which ended with a dwarven clasp. Beads were placed throughout the mass of hair, mostly ones of the color gold. The figure was almost certainly dwarf, a female at that, but Kili had to be sure.

He whipped an arrow into place and pulled it back. "Lay down your weapons, or I'll lay down you," he snarled. Kili needed to seem strong, and he was unknowingly accomplishing that. He watched the dwarrowdam stand up and set her sword on the ground. "Kick it to me," he commanded, and the female kicked it to him. He picked up the sword, letting his arrow become loose, but not letting it fly. Kili scrutinized the sword and looked at the runes upon it. Surprise took over him as he looked back towards the woman. It couldn't be her, could it? Only one way to find out, he thought.

"Turn around slowly," he stated. Kili heard a sigh and watched with shock as he came face-to-face with her. It was Khadinah, the girl he met twenty years ago, alive and well. Her sideburns were still long and in braids. Her eyes were still that mesmerizing, illusive blue. Her skin was still a rich, ebony color. A few beauty marks now littered her cheeks, freckles from the sun. She was, in fact, Khadinah, and Kili knew why she was here (well he thought he did). She promised him that she would come when the time was right. She would come when she had completed her quest for Mahal knows what. But Kili could care less. The only person who understood him, save his family (but even then, they couldn't understand like Khadinah), was alive and here.

"Khadinah?" he whispered. He still couldn't believe it.

"Aye, it's me," Khadinah smiled, looking up to him. He smirked when he noticed that she was still shorter than him. But he made no mention of it, and he could tell she was grateful for that. She had mentioned once in a letter (yes they wrote occasionally, but it only lasted for a few weeks, as Khadinah couldn't keep up with it) that her height was always a disadvantage. Sure she was part dwarf, but when she was with the elves (also for a brief time, and with Elrond) she felt very left out. She knew she was going to feel that way, but Kili understood how hard it must've been.

"So ya finally came crawling back," Kili joked, taking her hand to lead her to his pony. He heard Khadinah laugh heartily behind him, making him throw his head back in laughter too. She had one of those laughs. One of those laughs that just make you want to join in. She was just a contagious person that when happy, could make everyone in a ten-mile radius happy. But when sad or angry, no one could become it because she would shut herself out and away from others. At least that's what she told him. He also knew that she had only opened up to him.

"Aye, I was just missin' ya too much," she joked back, faking a swoon. "You're just so perfect Kee," she then actually fell backwards into a pile of colored leaves and sighed dreamily. Kili was laughing so hard, he had to grab a tree for support. "Oh Kili, I wuv you," she said, and moved over to give him a hug. Kili accepted the warm hug and they started laughing again. He loved joking around with Khadinah, as she always had the wittiest jokes.

Kili then smiled as Khadinah pulled away from him, his hands holding her shoulders. "How ya been, Khadinah?" he asked sincerely, his tone slightly laced with worry. Twenty years without seeing an old friend was a lot, especially since a lot had happened. Kili had grown into a dwarven man, finally somewhat accepted in society. The dwarrowdams and dwarves would occasionally still make fun of him for his looks, but at least his uncle accepted his status now. He would finally listen to him and consider the words he said. But there would always be that protectiveness that his Uncle Thorin held towards him. He was grateful his uncle loved him that much, but it proved to be annoying at times.

"I've been doin' well, Kili," Khadinah said, putting her hands on his shoulders as well. Kili could sense an air of disappointment to her, seeing a glaze of slight sadness in her blue eyes. It made him wonder and question what had happened in the twenty years she had been gone. For the first year or so, they had held a form of messy correspondence. But soon Khadinah stopped responding, either due to wishes of privacy or due to the fact that parchment and ink were expensive when you lived on the road. Either way, it didn't matter now, she was back. She then surprised him, "How have you fared Kili? I remember that you became a real dwarf nearly seventeen years past."

Kili smiled and nodded, noticing the mischievous glint in Khadinah's eyes. She had taken note of his age and for that, Kili felt proud. He couldn't deny that he had a small crush on the dwarrowdam that now walked stride him. But with her being five years his senior, it would not be looks upon favorably in their society. If one was to marry another who was older, it was always the men that were older than the women. Otherwise, they were the same age. It, while stopping Kili from pursuing his little crush, made him slightly freeze. Khadinah had been his secret, his best friend. Fili, Thorin, nor Dis had known about her existence nor Kili's time writing to her. But Fili…he was the same age as Khadinah. While she was not the typical dwarrowdam, her beauty would surely draw in Fili. Maybe they would become friends, dare he think…more than friends possibly. But Kili didn't like that idea. Khadinah was his friend, and would stay as HIS friend only. He wanted something Fili didn't have for once.

"Aye," Kili said, grabbing ahold of his mare's reins and started to urge her forward. Kili wanted to have time with Khadinah before his uncle met with her. Walking back would prove to be the slowest way to the place he calls home. It was much like a castle in a sense. A castle carved in stone and into the mountain. Kili liked it and all, but he couldn't think that it wasn't his true home. His true home was Erebor, where his ancestors had grown and ruled in. "You should've seen what my uncle got me," he said, referring to the bow Thorin had given him for his coming of age day. He then pulled his bow from off his back and showed it to Khadinah. He watched as her eyes widened in surprise and awe.

"My, that is quite the gift," she said, her eyes asking permission to hold it. Kili only nodded and handed the large bow to her, trusting she would handle it delicately. His chocolate eyes gazed over at her and watched as she pulled the string lightly, smirking in satisfaction as it remained taut. "It's quite the bow if you ask me, though," she said, as if contemplating something, "I'm no master archer, so I would have no idea." Kili laughed lightly at her as she handed the bow back. He expertly swung it over his shoulder and head, the string lying across his chest. He then watched curiously as Khadinah began to ponder something.

"Something on your mind?" Kili asked in pure curiosity. She didn't seem to be in a state of pure concentration, but she was in it enough to be questioning something. Or that's at least what Kili thought.

"Yes actually," she said, a hand scratching her chin lightly. If Kili looked close enough, he thought he could see a small stubble. He smiled lightly at that, knowing that there was more dwarf in her. "I just realized that I have never held nor shot with a bow," she said, turning to face Kili. The dwarf cleared his throat lightly, believing the female next to him thought him to be staring. "I've only handled my sword and sometimes dual swords," she said, making Kili want to freeze yet again. _Another thing she has in common with Fili_, he mumbled in his head irritably.

Kili just smiled at her, even if it was forced. She seemed to believe it real though and Kili couldn't help but sigh in relief. _Good, she didn't notice_, he thought. He was going to need to keep her away from Fili as much as piossible. He couldn't steal his only non-blood-related friend. It just wouldn't be fair. Well, that's what Kili's heart thought at least. His mind though was telling him that it was fair. His brother and him shared a lot of things and sharing a friend would not hurt.

But looking over at Khadinah, he knew his heart would win this argument. Khadinah was his friend and no matter what, she was not another thing Fili could steal.

* * *

**_A/N: Ahh, the first real chapter finished! It took way too long as I have been obsessed with many other fandoms and writer's block held onto me for the longest time. But it's here! I wanted to give an insight on Kili too. Kili has a small tiny crush in Khadinah that will fade, trust me. I hate love triangles and find them petty. So this will be purely Fili x Khadinah. But remember, Kili believes Fili gets everything and so he just wants his own "thing" for once, even if it is a friend.  
Anyways, shorter chapter, but more too come!  
Much love and thank you for the support my little mints!_**

~P❤


	3. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Ahhhhh! I'm just so happy that I got three whole reviews off of one update! Like oh my gosh you guys! That motivates me so much and shows that you guys appreciate my work (well I hope you do!). Anyways. I was thinking that maybe I could pick a review or two each chapter and answer any questions or suggestions they have. That sound reasonable?_**

**_Also, sadly Fili and Khadinah will not meet quite yet. I'm trying to show who she is first before throwing her into a romance (which will be a moderate burn). They ain't gonna get married and have sex in the third chapter after meeting, it's simply unrealistic and allows for no plot nor character development. I'm going off of their character traits and how I fell in love for my base. But that's chapters in the way, way future. _**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, Tolkien's ghost and I are still trying to come to an agreement where he hands over the rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring to me. He still owns them, but joke's on him. I own Khadinah, and anything that pertains to MY form of Dark Elves, oh and any characters you do not recognize from the books nor movies.**

**Also, I apologize that this is a shorter chapter. I've been fairly busy as of late and I wanted to get a chapter out as soon as possible before work and college kills me.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**  
-

Thorin lounged peacefully on a cushioned seat, stroking his black beard (which may I add, had a few grey hairs). He had sent Fili off on an orc hunt, much to the blonde dwarf's pleasure and his brunette brother's displeasure. Thorin was not sure how to handle Kili sometimes. His blue eyes would catch the way his youngest nephew would stare in jealousy at Fili. How he would look longingly for the attention his elder brother seemed to receive. Thorin would see the way Kili would scratch the lower half of his face, probably imagining a beard instead of scruff.

Thorin felt bad for Kili, he truly did. His young nephew was the laughing stock of Ered Luin, the supposed "dwarven Ellon". That title made Thorin want to yell in slight rage. His knuckles clenched tightly. His nephew may look more like an elf in some ways, but he was most certainly not one of those back-stabbing bastards. Thorin knew his nephew would never turn his back on a friend if they were in need. Kili would fight loyally till the end, risking his life if need be. The elves though? They would simply turn their backs on you as they watched your home burn to the ground, your body and soul helpless.

He remembered the day vividly. The day the elves truly made a form of a silent war between dwarves and elves.

_Thorin had his armor on, motioning for civilians to follow his younger brother, Frerin. He needed to get everyone out of Erebor and Frerin was willing to lead everyone out. Thorin scanned the area, his eyes landing on said brother. Anyone could pick Frerin from a mass of people easily. He had the messy excuse of a mop of hair, the blondest you'll ever see on a dwarf. His nose had been broken one too many times and one could see scarring and how bulbous his large nose was. He had a long beard already, nearly as long as Dwalin's, which was surprising to most. But Thorin was not surprised, Frerin never did like following the "conformities of dwarven society"._

_"Brother!" Thorin shouted, hoping his booming voice would not go unnoticed over the already loud screams and shouts. He needed to tell Frerin of a development, something that could prove helpful. It had caught his eye and his brother was the faster of the two. If his brother could get-_

_It was too late. Thorin watched as a human, the leader of Dale, missed with a black arrow. His throat closed up. His ice-blue eyes began to grow dark in anger, hopelessness, and sadness. If a human, a human who was considered one of the top marksmen in all of Middle Earth, could not hit the dragon dread, then what would become of his home?_

_"The elves are here to save us!" someone in the mass cried out, a taller dwarf of brunette hair. Thorin's eyebrows furrowed at the dwarf and he then shrugged his shoulders. If they were truly there, it would be a miracle, if not, then so be it._

_Thorin turned around, sword in hand, his eyes doubtful. But what he saw made him want to jump and cry in joy. There, over the top of the hill, stood King Thranduil, the elven king of Mirkwood. He sat upon a great elk, a sigil of his house. Thorin could not see far enough to tell what the king's expression held, for dwarves were not know for their "superb" vision. A smile graced his once frowning lips as Thorin felt his brother race over to his side, cheers coming from behind the two. Thorin looked over at his little brother, the smile on his lips was reflected by Frerin as they looked back towards the elves._

_They had a fighting chance now because of the elves. They were masters at archery, they could take down Smaug. They could help them take Erebor back. They could-_

_Why did Thranduil turn his head away? Thorin's eyesight may be horrible, but he could decipher general movements. Why was Thranduil's body turned away? Wasn't he going to fight with his legion? Thorin frowned lightly at this._ It's alright, the legion doesn't need their king to lead, _he told himself, his blue eyes squinting to see better. But then…he wish he didn't squint. _

_The legion and King Thranduil had their backs turned towards them. Thorin watched in horror and betrayal as the elves left them to fight the dragon dread on their own. Thorin's face contorted in anger and he felt the blackness of betrayal stab into his heart, making a certain promise to himself, as it seemed Thorin could now only trust dwarves. He would make Thranduil pay and until he did, he would not trust another elf again._

"Thorin," an annoyed, yet firm female voice spoke out clearly. Said man couldn't seem to hear his name be called though, as he still stared into space, his hands in tight fists and a haze of anger over his blue eyes. To anyone who did not know that Thorin fell into deep memories, they might believe that he had just been delivered horrible news. But he hadn't been given bad news. He was just too absorbed in a horrible memory.

"Thorin Oakensheild," the female voice said yet again, inserting more firmness into her voice. A hand laid itself on Thorin's shoulder and shook the dwarf from his daze. He looked down at the hand and sighed, knowing exactly who it belonged too.

"Dis," Thorin greeted, a tired look appearing on his face. He was a king in exile, ruling over Ered Luin as their king. He wanted to rule over Erebor, his birthright. But where he was now could do for the moment. Even now he was still getting used to it. He didn't believe he ever could get used to it, but he could hope and try. Until then, he was stuck here, tired and tried from the day's work. His tired eyes looked up towards his younger sister.

She looked exactly like him in many ways. She had ice-blue eyes, something Thorin donned years ago until he saw death and destruction. Dis had the same raven black hair Thorin held, but hers was much nicer looking and softer. Her beard was merely scruff on the chin and she had braids trailing down from her jawline. Her face was pointed, much like any female (but it was rare, as most dwarrowdams held rounded faces). High cheekbones were placed on her face and a few stray hairs could be found on her somewhat concave cheeks. Thorin realized just how much Kili took after his mother.

"What do you need, sister?" Thorin asked, pushing himself from his chair. He put his arms up and stretched lightly. Popping was felt in his back and he sighed in comfort at this. He put his arms down and rubbed his knuckles, popping them as well. He could hear the annoyed sigh of his sister and smirked lightly to himself.

"Well, first," she said, an obvious frown in her words, "I need you to stop doing that, it's bad for your joints, Thorin. You're getting older, you need to take care of your body." Thorin couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. Dis…she truly was one of a kind. "And I saw Kili today," she said, as if it was the most amazing thing ever.

"Well I would hope you did, he is your son," Thorin joked around, turning towards his little sister.

"With a girl," she finished, a wicked smirk curling on her lips. Thorin stood still for a second and raised a black eyebrow. He had never seen Kili with a dwarrowdam, as they usually strayed far from him and towards the more muscular and bearded dwarves. He always felt bad for his nephew's inability to converse eloquently with females, as Fili seemed to have the charm and looks that ever dwarrowdam searched for. But maybe…maybe he had found his woman.

"They looked to be laughing and conversing quite well," Dis said, her eyes staring at a wooden table that held sketches of their family. Thorin's eyes trailed over to one particular picture and saw a drawing of Fenrir, Dis' dead husband. Thorin kept the picture because his brother-by-law had felt more like blood family, than martial family. They had been brothers-in-arms and Thorin would be lying if he said he didn't miss his sister's husband. And then there had been Frerin, Thorin's little brother and Dis' elder brother. He had truly been a brother-in-arms. Fili looked so much like him, Thorin considered it terrifying sometimes (as Fenrir and Frerin looked very similar and Fili obviously took after his father and uncle respectively). But he also was dead, his 48-year lifespan over after being injured at the east-gate of Khazad-dûm at the Battle of Azanulbizar. "She's quite pretty," Dis added, breaking Thorin from his thoughts, a sad edge to her voice as she looked away from the sketches.

Thorin grunted slightly, acknowledging Dis' comment. If she was considered pretty by Dis then she was either truly easy on the eyes, or Dis simply said it out of pity and the girl is actually quite ugly. Thorin didn't know which was better. Kili was either with a dwarrowdam who was pretty (which would cause some jealousy issues among other males) or he was with a girl who was sadly not attractive (which would cause ridicule towards the two). Thorin truly didn't know which was worse.

Dis looked over at Thorin, his eyes giving away what he was thinking. He watched as his sister rolled her eyes and shook her head. "And because you've already entertained scenarios, I'll put an end to them," she said, Thorin smirking lightly. "She's pretty, in an…exotic sort of way," Dis said, making Thorin think the worst.

She's not a dwarf. She's not a dwarf. She's not a dwarf.

"It's weird how a girl like her isn't mistaken as an elf," Dis continued, making Thorin's face contort slightly into one of shock. His back was to Dis, so she could not see the way his face not eyes were looking.

She's an elf. She's an elf. She's an elf.

"But she has dark skin, almost like chocolate," Dis mused, oblivious to Thorin's now frozen frame.

Dark skin. Looks are deceiving. Maybe a dwarf. Maybe an elf.

Thorin stood rigid as his mind understood what the girl with Kili was. A dark elf. Dark elves meant black magic. Dark elves meant ruin. But why, if she was a dark elf, would she be civil with his nephew? Dark elves were not known to be civil nor were they known to show themselves in broad daylight. Thorin had nothing against the dark elves. They had been attacked by Azog the Defiler and his legion almost 62 years ago. They were wiped out, and Thorin had to sympathize. He knew what it meant to have something take from you. But paranoia concerning the dark race was widespread across the lands. It was only natural to be cautious of the race.

And then he thought some more. 61 years ago, his brother-in-arms, Frelin had traveled to Khänshólē, the dark elf territory. He had found a way to write to Thorin and would inform him of developments in the hell hole. He had traveled there as a form of a spy. The dark elves were to be considered threats until proven otherwise. But then, Frelin sent one last letter to Thorin. He spoke of not being able to betray the dark elves with spying any longer. He spoke of how some were actually kind and helpful. He spoke of one in particular, a female, Thorin had to guess. And then, Frelin sent letters no more and Thorin had gotten word that Khänshólē had been taken over by orcs.

If Frelin refused to betray the dark elves due to a woman, then…

Thorin's eyes widened at his thought and he turned to Dis who had obviously been talking without realizing that Thorin wasn't listening. "I wish to meet her," he said, surprising his little sister.

* * *

Fili sighed tiredly as his group was cut off yet again from a pack of rogue orcs they had been tracking for three days now. His uncle, Thorin, had sent him to oversee the chase. Fili had been…surprised to say the least that his uncle appointed him to this duty. Thorin never really allowed for him not Kili to do much when it came to real fighting. He had allowed intense training, intense scouting, and many other things of the sort, but never this. He had never allowed either to lead a chase…not even allowed outside of Ered Luin's borders. But that didn't matter anymore, for Fili would not let his uncle down.

Now, Fili and his party lay in a cave, a fire in the center. He leaned heavily against the somewhat damp walls, breathing in the lovely smell of rain, moss, and burning wood. His eyes were shut, allowing him to not only rest his tired blue eyes, but also allowing him to become deep in thought. He was tired both mentally and physically from the day. Hours of riding after the rogue pack and hours of believing they would make this a short chase made Fili tired.

For riding ponies for hours on end was a strenuous task, especially for dwarves. Their bodies weren't meant for riding. Their bodies were meant for mining and smithing. Riding was just not something that agreed with a dwarf's stature.

"Af'er this, I'm hopin for a real nice treat from me wife," one dwarf said to Fili's left, causing the blonde dwarf to open an eye and cock an eyebrow. He studied the dwarf and realized it to be his second-in-command for this chase, Rohain. Rohain was a good friend of Fili's, the dwarf being a few years older than Fili himself. He was bulky and a little on the stockier side. He had auburn hair that was more of a mop than actual hair. Frizzy braids were scattered amongst his beard and hair, making him look more like a drunk than a respectable guard in Thorin's King's Guard.

"Aye," said another dwarf, a few grunting in agreement. Fili shook his head and snorted loudly, catching the attention of nearly everyone in the circle.

"What are ye snortin' at, Fili?" Rohain questioned, a hint of mirth in his heavily accented, rough voice.

Fili simply opened both of his eyes and shook his head. A smirk on his lips and he leaned forward into sitting position. "Nothin', Rohain," he lied poorly, a chuckle bubbling in his throat. "Just that you seem to think yer wife is one to only give ya pleasure," he said, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

Fili had never been one to think a wife was only for one thing: pleasure. He thought that a wife represented so much more. She should have fire, spirit, skills (other than cooking and giving "pleasure" to her husband). Fili hated the way some dwarves, and men of other races treated and thought of their women like that. Fili himself, along with some other respectable people, found women to be the apex of society and so much more than slaves (as some men practically compared their wives to such a degrading position in society). He hated it, and seeing some men in here agree with Rohain, made Fili realize just how messed up men were sometimes.

"Well," Rohain said, leaning back against a rock, "ye would ne'er understand Fili. Ye yerself ain't e'en courtin' a lass yet." Rohain chuckled loudly, as if it were the funniest thing in the world. It was not. It only made Fili's face lose all mirth and emotion.

There were no dwarrowdams that caught his attention in Ered Luin. All were the same to him. The young ones all flocked to him because of his status. The elder ones all flocked to him because he was young and reminded them of their sons. No female so far had caught his eye enough to make him consider courting just yet. None fought as well as he did (which was understandable yet he always hoped there would be a female to challenge him). None wished to get to know him as a person. None wanted to actually speak with him about things other than being royalty. All the women he had met so far only cared about status, gems, and becoming royal.

So perhaps he did not know of the things the dwarves surrounding him did. But it should not matter. He knew what he wanted in a wife, and it wasn't just damned pleasure.

* * *

Khadinah sighed as Kili brought his pony back to the stables. She had to admit, Ered Luin was beautiful. Whilst Kili had been talking (a lot may she add), Khadinah had been taking in the city of the Blue Mountains. The people of it had simply stared at her, questioning gazes pointed towards her. She would look away quickly and hope to avoid any more looks towards her. She hated making eye contact with people, who seemingly questioned her very existence. Actually, she hated making eye contact in general. She not only found it way too personal to just do, but she found it very…humbling in a sense. Whenever she had made eye contact whilst staying in Rivendell, she would always shrink back and blush lightly (of course, due to her chocolate pallor, it was never noticeable). She didn't like the idea of making eye contact with someone unless you were their equal and you were involved romantically. It just didn't sit well with her.

Khadinah watched as the bay pony of Kili's neighed and whinnied at the brunette dwarf. He seemed to be having trouble with calming the mare down and Khadinah had to let out a laugh.

"What're you laughin' at?" Kili said, a look of frustration upon his younger features. Khadinah simply laughed some more at his expression. She was leaning against the stone wall opposite Kili's mare's dock, an arm resting over her stomach as she chuckled now. The dwarf, whom Khadinah titled as he best friend (and only friend for that matter), groaned in annoyance at both her and his pony. Khadinah had to wipe away at the tears forming at her blue eyes, her lips still parted as she breathed out the dying bits of laughter.

"I…" she started, taking a minute to compose herself, "I'm laughin' at the fact that your pony does not seem to like you at all, Ki." She watched as the mare almost reared, causing Khadinah to snort loudly. Kili turned his head towards her and rolled his eyes. _He really is having trouble, now isn't he?_ she thought to herself, a smile upon her lips. Her blue eyes watched the dwarf struggle with reining in his bay beauty. _Perhaps he needs a little help from the best_, she thought with a smirk on her face.

She walked over to the dock, ushering Kili out. She caught a look of shock on his face, causing a small smile to appear on her own. _Boys, they never know how to do things the gentle way_, she thought, tsk-ing Kili as she looked at the pony. She watched as the bay pony stamped its hooves slightly, a snort of exasperation escaping its nostrils. A look of annoyance was hidden in the mare's dark eyes. Khadinah held her breath almost, as she hoped her technique worked.

"Shh," she said, putting one hand on top of the forelock of the pony, and another on the bottom of the muzzle of the grand creature. "Shh, it's alright girl. Don't worry. Dwarves are not gentle when it comes to things as precious as you," she said, practically feeling the glare that Kili shot into Khadinah's back. She stroked her hand down the head of the pony, the stocky build of it's skull making Khadinah realize just how much ponies were like dwarves. She gave quiet, nearly inaudible, sounds of peace towards the animal, stroking lightly. Her blue eyes watched as the animal calmed down, its dark orbs clashing with Khadinah's blue ones. Well, they were no longer clashing. They were more like…agreeing in a sense.

Khadinah smiled in triumph, backing out of the dock slightly and closing the latch, keeping eye contact at all times. Eye contact with humans was weird and uncomfortable. But eye contact with animals provoked trust and a sense of security.

"How did you do that?" Kili asked, wide-eyed. Khadinah lightly chuckled at the younger dwarf's confusion.

She lifted her hands and twiddled her fingers slightly. "Magic," she said, giving a slight 'oooohhhh' to add effect. Kili stared at her, his eyes betraying his thoughts. He actually believed her! _Oh by Mahal's beard he actually believed me_, she thought to herself, incredulous. "Ki, please tell me," she said, grabbing him by the shoulders, "you don't actually believe me. Do you?!" Khadinah seriously needed to reconsider her choices in friends if he did.

"Weeeell," he trailed off, a look of embarrassment clear on his face.

Khadinah groaned, "By Mahal, Kili! I don't even know how I am friends with you. Perhaps I judged your nice character too quickly! You're actually a blockhead!" She pinched the bridge of her nose. Oh she definitely needed to reconsider how she judged people.

"Hey! In my defense…" he trailed off as he realized just how stupid his argument could be. Khadinah smiled again in triumph. She was on a roll today! And just as she was about to make a witty joke towards her friend, a voice she had never heard before resounded throughout the stable.

"Kili, your uncle wants to meet your friend."


	4. Chapter 3

**_A_****/****_N: AHHH! Oh by Mahal's beard, you guys! 18 favorites?! Y'all are the best! And 32 follows too?! Ahh! I'm so thankful for y'all taking the time to read this story and for some of y'all to review it. It's a surreal experience and I couldn't be more thankful.  
Now onto other matters. I have started college classes back up again along with sports and work. I have an extremely busy schedule now and I'm going to try and do an update per week. Now sometimes, this will cause each chapter to be around 3,500-4,000 words and maybe, I might have one be around 5,000 once in a while. But do expect the former for now.  
Also, ask anything you'd like in the reviews! Make predictions! Write what you would like to see in the next chapter. I'm gonna start answering any of those things in your reviews next chapter. You don't have to, but I think it'd be fun!_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit nor the Lord of the Ring trilogy. Trust me, if I did, A LOT of things would be different. Like, my OC and her race, would be in all the books! But ya know, fan fiction can be my way for now.**

**_Anyways, thanks again y'all and here's_** **_the chapter!_**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Khadinah walked alongside Kili slowly. The dwarrowdam in front of them, leading them, was quiet and walked with a stride only gifted to those of higher status. It made Khadinah feel slightly self-conscious. Here she was, walking with a slight slouch and some mud was scattered about her body (mainly her lower body). And then there was Dis (whom Kili had introduced as his mother), who walked with her back straight and was in only pristine condition. She was also beautiful, especially for a dwarrowdam. Long, raven-black hair cascaded down her back. Khadinah had seen her face and she had to stop herself from dropping her jaw. A lot of dwarrowdams did not have the luck of beauty, and Khadinah could see why now. Dis must've stolen all of it at her birth.

Dis, like stated earlier, had beautiful black hair. Clasps were found amongst her locks, braids too. Khadinah noticed how Dis seemed to have long scruff at her chin and along her jawline, braids fell from her beard. Each braid was intricately done and done well at that. Khadinah had to squint at first, but she kinda understood what each braid meant. There were four in total, two on each side that conjoined with its partner on either side. Khadinah had to guess that two represented her children: two sons. Another represented being royalty, and another represented lost loved ones. Khadinah found the braids beautiful.

But it made her wonder, where was Dis' other son?

Khadinah looked up as she heard the ceasing of walking. Her blue eyes searched the area in front of her to simply find Dis turned towards her and Kili. She seemed to have a hesitant look in her eyes, which were also a bright blue that went well with her fair pallor. Khadinah looked at the way Dis held high cheekbones and saw who Kili took after in his family.

"My brother," she said, as if contemplating if she should say something helpful. Khadinah only had to hold her breath slightly, a little worried if this is what Dis was doing. She let out a sigh of relief as Dis continued, "My brother is a little…nosy at times, for lack of a better word. So please, do not be offended." Khadinah only smiled lightly at the sister of Thorin Oakenshield. She knew of Kili's family history. She knew of his lineage. It was quite obvious and not hard to realize it once you took a good hard look at the facts in front of you.

"Oh come now, maamr,"* the voice of Kili causing Khadinah to twitch an eyebrow up. A corner of her lips twitched up slightly at the sight of her friend. Kili had one hand on his hip and his other hand was raised a little, much like an annoyed human girl. It took everything in Khadinah not to laugh. "Uncle Thorin isn't that bad. And, Khadinah here could handle him. She's like, the strongest dwarrowdam I know!" he spoke with such conviction that it showed just how young he truly was mentally. And the look his mother gave him showed it. He then realized his mistake and covered it up quickly, "Behind you of course, maamr."

Khadinah couldn't help but snigger slightly at this and covered it up with a cough. "While I appreciate the high regards towards your friend, I'm afraid I'm right Kili," Dis spoke, rolling her eyes slight at Kili's behavior. She was obviously not impressed whatsoever. This made Khadinah wonder if princes were held so tightly on their leashes, even in the presence of a friend. Her curious turquoise eyes watched as the king's sister gave a sigh and pointed her words at Khadinah herself. "My son," she threw a pointed look in Kili's direction, "is not to be permitted in the hall whilst you are there speaking with my brother. And unlike what Kili had stated, my brother can be too nosy sometimes. So, for the sake of all of us, just go along with it and sate my brother's curiosity."

Khadinah simply nodded, "I will do as ya wish." She knew not to disrespect the woman who was both the king's sister and Kili's mother. She was to be held in the higher of regards and Khadinah knew this. At Khadinah's approval to do as the higher dwarrowdam asked, Dis seemed to let out a sigh of relief and grateful nod of her head.

Khadinah turned her head to the side and saw Kili with a pout covering his face. His arms were crossed over his chest and he seemed disappointed in the fact that he would not be in the room with her and his uncle. Khadinah rolled her eyes and ruffled the younger dwarf's hair. "Oh lighten up, litt'e sprout," Khadinah spoke to him playfully, a smile stretched over her lips. Kili made a grunt of annoyance and pushed her hand off of his head. "Oh by Mahal, Kili, I'm simply goin' in for a few questions per your sister's-brother's request. Ya need to lighten up a litt'e," she rolled her eyes at Kili's behavior, a tad bit annoyed like his mother. He really was a younger dwarf. But with all younger dwarfs, you have to make compromises. "Listen, litt'e sprout, I'll make ya a deal, yeah? Leave me with your uncle for as long as necessary, and you can hold my attention for as long as you want. I won't even look anyone else's way but yer own fer an entire day." she offered up, knowing the young dwarf couldn't resist such a tantalizing offer.

"Ya promise?" a look of suspicion was prominent on the brunette dwarf's face, his chocolate eyes holding the most. Khadinah simply nodded her head and smiled up at the dwarf, who happened to be an inch or two taller that herself.

"I promise on my father's grave," she held her left hand up and placed her right hand over her left breast. She knew it was going over the top, but she would do whatever to make sure Kili believed her. Kili was like the best friend/little brother she never had and she would please him to her best abilities just as such.

Kili's eyes widened substantially and a dazzling smile formed on his lips, exposing his near perfect teeth. A similar smile appeared on Khadinah's face as the younger dwarf engulfed her in a hug. Kili was a little over five feet tall, only having around two inches on the darker pallor dwarf. But his body was surprisingly broader for his lithe form and overshadowed Khadinah's substantially. A laugh escaped her lips as she gave a few pats to her best friend's back. The large arms around her tightened and Khadinah found it a bit suffocating.

"All 'ight Kee, don't suffocate me before we can strike a deal," she joked around playfully. She felt his fur-covered arms retract from her waist and his hands placing themselves upon her slightly broad shoulders (a dwarven trait, even in the females of the race).

"Sorry, Dinah," a smaller smile was on his lips now and he gave a shrug of his shoulders. Khadinah simply shook her head lightly while chuckling.

"Sure ya are," she patted his shoulder in return, a mischievous glint in her turquoise eyes. A smirk played across her lips before she stepped away from the brunette's hands. Her eyes focused then on Dis, who held a small smile on her lips. Envy towards the dwarrowdam began to fill up Khadinah. Dis was so beautiful, had a beard (even if it was maintained close to her jawline), and was respected. Khadinah could only dream of being all three things at once.

Khadinah nodded her head towards the woman, signaling that she was ready to go meet Thorin Oakenshield. She needed to rid her mind of jealousies and wishes, simply so she could have a clear mind for the task at hand. Answering questions about her personal life was certainly abound and Khadinah needed to be prepared for such an occurrence. Jealousies and wishes would only distract her and perhaps make her come off as suspicious, as she wouldn't be able to answer fully nor clearly. She had learnt in her years of traveling that one is most likely guilty of something if they cannot hold your stare with their own, if they cannot answer calmly and clearly, and if they cannot answer at all. She knew that if her mind was foggy during this questioning, she would be doing all three.

Her turquoise eyes darted to Dis' hand as it stretched out and grabbed hold of the door handle. Khadinah felt her nerves begin to bundle up and bunch together slightly, knots forming from stress. She did not know why she was so nervous. She had known this day, the day when she met Thorin Oakenshield, would come to pass. In fact, she had known for years. Gandalf summoning her to her father's grave, miles away from Khänshólē, only proved this knowledge. She had tried to prolong it for as long as she could, but she knew one thing no matter how much she ran.

Running from something inevitable will not allow you peace. It will only bring the event much quicker.

Khadinah's eyes traveled to the now opened door, its dark oak coloring shining under the natural light let in by a hole in the stone walls. The hole was somewhat big, purposely placed where it was. It was smoothed and trimmed neatly, a sign of its purpose. Two metal bars stood vertically in the hole, enough room in between each that Khadinah could probably fit her arm through. Then, two other metal bars stood horizontally in the hole, crossing over the vertical ones. It reminded her too much of how trapped she could become in Ered Luin if she was not careful.

Taking a breath and swallowing down a lump in her throat, Khadinah began walking through the door. Her dark boots made small sounds as they trod across the stone floors. Her ears twitched at every sound. Her eyes darted quickly, taking in every detail around her. Her nose scrunched up slightly then smoothed itself down as it picked up a foreign smell. She knew what it was though once she thought about it. Her knuckles popped themselves due to how tightly her fists were clenched. Veins popped out lightly from her arms due to the bundled up tension housed in her body, but this was covered by the furs that lined her skin and covered her flesh.

Khadinah spun around quickly when she heard the door she had entered through shut nearly silently. A sigh escaped her as she turned around once again and continued walking. Now, she had realized she was walking on some sort of rug. It was a royal blue coloring with threads of silver laced into it. The color was beautiful really, and Khadinah only wanted to lie down on it and sleep. A small chuckle bubbled up inside her at this thought. _Sleeping on the royal rug? Really Khadinah? _she smirked at her thoughts.

She tilted her head up and stopped where she stood. Only a few feet in front of her was a throne. Nothing too fancy or great about it. It was carven from the blue-ish stone from the mountains. It was plain, probably only used when necessary really. The arm rests were flattened, the surface of them smooth. The backing had a line a few inches in, adding more depth to the stone throne. A small step, also carved out by the pretty stone, surrounded the throne. Plain and simple was the chair, but the purpose of it was neither.

"Frelin made this piece of art," a low and booming voice said in the silence of the hall. Khadinah spun her body to her left, where the voice originated, and was taken aback by the sight. Thorin Oakenshield was walking with his hands clasped behind his back. Khadinah could see the resemblance between him and Dis clear as day. They held the same crystal blue eyes, the same raven black hair (though Thorin seemed to have a few gray strands). Thorin was taller as well and his beard was bushy but kept close to his face. It covered nearly the entirety of the bottom of his face and Khadinah found it strange that his beard was short. Perhaps he did so to make Kili feel better about his own, and if that was the case, Khadinah felt a swell of respect form inside her.

"Seventy one years ago," Thorin spoke, his eyes seeming stuck on the throne, "your father carved this entire chair, from the first signs of morning light till the moon was at its peak in the blackness. He swore over and over again that it would be completed before Dis was to be married. I would laugh and tell him that that was a fool's dream. Carving thrones is not a funny business and can take years if done right. But he was intent on proving me wrong.

"Frelin worked to the point of exhaustion one night, the night before my little sister's wedding. I had found out that the healers had taken him into the healing room right after the moon started to fall from its reign in the sky. I was so worried that I hadn't noticed it. Frelin lied there, a crooked smile on that dumb face. And do you know what he said?" Thorin turned to her, snapping her from the daze she had been left in due to the story. "He said," he continued on without waiting for an answer, "I finished that damn chair of your's Thorin Oakenshield."

Khadinah's lips turned up into a smile at this, realizing that Thorin and her father had been very good friends. It was something she wished could continue to this day. But the pale Orc had stripped her of that wish and anger boiled inside her veins at this. The pale Orc would pay one day.

"Your father was one of the most reckless dwarves I had ever had the pleasure of knowing," Thorin spoke proudly, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. This made the anger in Khadinah wash away to a point of nonexistence for now. "So when my sister tells me my youngest sister-son is with a dwarrowdam who doesn't not look like any normal dwarrowdam with a pallor like that of dark elves, you can probably understand my knowledge that you are Frelin's daughter." he said quite calmly, the opposite of Khadinah's obvious shock.

"Ya can deduce that by my skin tone?" she asked, shock overriding her system.

"Of course. Dark elves may not be around any longer but I knew many in my lifetime. Their distinct features are known throughout the civilized and wild lands," Thorin stated simply. "Now at first, I was wary. I thought you were a full blooded dark elf, but my sister's description of you proved that wrong. After that, all I had to think was when a dwarf and a dark elf would come in contact. And I remembered Frelin. I had sent that crazy dwarf to infiltrate Khänshólē nearly sixty-three years ago," he spoke more, now standing next to Khadinah, staring at the throne as a glaze covered his eyes due to memories resurfacing.

"Ya sent him to infiltrate that _hell_?" she asked, a subtle venom in her voice. She knew what happened in that location in the mountains. Stories, rumors, truths had all filled her knowledge of 'Purgatory'. She never needed to live there to know the horrors that occurred.

"I needed to send someone," Thorin defended lightly, turning his head to face her. "Everyone had their suspicions about the happenings there. No one wanted to confirm them though. My kingdom was scared, and as their king, I needed to make peace. There were many I trusted, though only one volunteered," he said, turning and facing the door to the hall, his head held high.

"Your father volunteered his services and I agreed to his wishes. He had always had a knack for adventure and he said that this could be his adventure, of course, it would be his quiet adventure," Thorin chuckled at this. "He went and informed us of everything that was occurring, from messy battle plans all the way to the birth of another dark elf. He kept sending ravens inconspicuously for around eleven moons. Then he said that he could no longer betray the dark elves. We all at first thought he had been discovered and then forced to write this last letter. But I knew better. For sixty-two years I had my suspicions and you standing here only confirms them. I had a feeling that Frelin stopped due to his emotions, his very specific emotions towards a dark elf. But I had never been sure."

"Why would ya think that?" Khadinah asked, curiosity tugging at her mind. "I mean, my father gave no reason to believe he was in love, did he?"

"He didn't need to. I knew Frelin like the back of my hand. He would never inform us if he was caught, no matter who tried to make him do so. It would only expose our position due to the raven having to travel. He informed us on his own terms and Frelin was a man who was usually controlled by his emotions. His sense of loyalty and friendship with me pushed him to finish this damned chair. His sense of love and loyalty to a dark elf pushed him to wish to no longer betray them," Thorin stated, a faraway look in his crystal blue eyes. A sense of sadness pushed into Khadinah's heart as he spoke of her father. No one, not even Gandalf had spoken so highly of the simple dwarf who fathered her.

"H-how did ya know he died?" Khadinah tested slightly, the want to know her father more pushing her.

Thorin sighed at this and his head tilted down slightly. Khadinah caught it though. The glossiness over his eyes was now water. She knew that look, but only few times had she experienced it. So seeing a king, one who was respected and held highly in the regards of dwarven folk, hold back tears at the thought of someone dead, made her question how she had been able to do such a thing for so long (well with the exception of leaving Eziluk of course).

"I just knew."

* * *

**_A/N: So this is a shorter chapter. I kinda wanted to have a chapter purely dedicated to Frelin and Khadinah learning more about him. I feel it gives her a sense of getting closer to him. Like, it reminds me of Fili and Kili with their father. They really only have stories to go by as they were too young to remember him fully. Also, I feel like Thorin is much "kinder" in this period of time as well, seeing as he is not worried about being on a quest to reclaim Erebor. So yeah! Hope y'all enjoyed this filler and have a great day my little mints!_**

**_Love,  
P❤_**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit or Lord of The Rings. Those belong to J. R. R Tolkien (lucky bastard), and Middle Earth was brought to life by the amazing Peter Jackson. I only own Khadinah, my version of dark elves, Khänshólē, and OCs that are not recognizable from the books nor movies.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Khadinah sat quietly, the sun's golden rays beating down upon her exposed flesh. It wasn't too hot. It wasn't too cold. At the moment, it was just right. A nice warmth to the air that was controlled by a calming breeze that filtered through the pines and air. Khadinah found it…refreshing and calming. It was the exact opposite of the inside of her mind right now.

Inside her mind was a raging tempest. Thoughts on a previous conversation pulled and tugged at her brain, eating away soundly. She felt pain ring throughout her skull, she felt it through her temple. A beating of drums from the war inside could be heard loud and clear to only herself. She was alone in this war. It was one versus all. Herself versus her emotions and thoughts. No one was backing her up. No one would come as her relief. She was on her own.

She did not know of an escape route. There were no hidden passageways for her to sneak into. There was no little cupboard she could hide in until the tempest subsided. She could not run from her own mind. She was simply stuck. There were no ravens to send out for pleas of help. There was no negotiating with the enemy. There was no relief from this war. It was simply concrete, nothing could change it or make it go away.

That's why this war was so terrifying for Khadinah. It was something she couldn't rid herself of. She knew that there had always been a small battle or two in her mind every once in a while. She knew what was happening but she never wanted to see it. She never wanted to understand why such occurrences plagued her. She never wanted to realize that her emotions and thoughts completely went against each other, that they tore each other apart. She never wanted to know that she herself was being ripped in half, as that's how her head felt in that moment.

She never wanted to realize that battles made up a war.

So, there she sat, on a small stone bench outside. Her facial features conveyed nothing of her inner turmoil. Her form wasn't rigid nor tense, it was relaxed and calm. She looked as if she was the most at peace being in the world. But her turquoise eyes showed it all. They showed the blood and gore of the battlefield of her mind. They showed the physical and mental pain she was in at the moment. They showed just how broken she was now. And how can one tell? The crystal clarity of the turquoise was no longer there, a sad glaze covered her eyes. The coloring of her pupils were no longer bright, but instead dull and deflated.

Khadinah looked so broken.

But why? Why would she look broken? Why would she feel like her head was about to implode upon her very shoulders?

The stories Thorin Oakenshield had told her. He had described her father to a fault. He had spoken highly and amicably about the deceased dwarf. He had spoken with a sadness and pride about the dwarf, pride in their friendship and sadness in his friend's death. Sixty-two years of grieving had taken a toll on Thorin, his mind never able to realize one of his best friend's was gone. So he portrayed the sadness so personally that Khadinah could feel it in waves. She could literally taste the sadness in the air. She could feel it becoming her own. She could feel it consume her.

Of course, when one hears stories of their dead father, they are sure to become sad and sorrowful. For Khadinah had never had proper time to mourn the death of her father and mother. But her mother was to remain unknown for the rest of Khadinah's life, as no one paid any attention to the thin dark elleth. No one had. No one except for Frelin. And he had been dead for sixty-two years as well. That's what made it so sad for Khadinah. She would never know either parent. She would never learn fully who her father was, despite Thorin's stories of him. She would never know her mother's name or who she was, as no one but her father knew those.

It made Khadinah feel so…alone.

She was the outlier.

The outsider.

The foreigner.

The weird one.

The one…

_Stop!_ Khadinah shouted in her own mind, taking hold of her head in her hands. Her slightly calloused fingers gripped her black locks tightly, the curls becoming messy. Stray hairs tried to escape the unrelenting force her hands caused. But none were safe from the strain that were caused by her appendages.

The pounding in her head began to dull. The words of belittlement seemed to cease completely. The war was at a stalemate in her ravaged mind. No cries of battle resounded throughout her skull. No more blood was leaked. Nothing was happening in her head. Nothing but that dull pounding and the thoughts of her own accord. The thoughts that she herself consciously created and formed.

A sharp inhale of breath infiltrated her lips and shook her body to the core. The air was cold. Too cold for Khadinah's liking. It filled her lungs and made them burn. She could feel the icy fire spread throughout her chest, making a constricting feeling own her. This…feeling. Khadinah knew it was her emotions' fault. They made the air cold around her. They made the tightness in her chest form. It was all their fault.

A shaky exhalation of breath escaped her. The tightness never left her chest though. The icy fire still raged on. So, her hands dropped from her messy, starless-night hair. She felt them fall limply to her chest, clutching tightly onto her fur-lined cloak that covered her shoulders. She pulled the trimmings of both sides together, causing her garments underneath to become invisible. The only thing visible on her was her midnight blue cloak. A cloak that she had made whilst sitting next to Eziluk one night.

***~•~***

_Khadinah sat against her large companion, a dazzling smile upon her features. The tame warg simply accommodated the young half-breed, her head lying upon her large crossed paws. Her body was stretched, a comfortable position for most wargs, as their bodies were long and bulky. It was also for comfort for Khadinah, and the dwarrowdam knew it. The moon shone down brightly upon the duo and Khadinah looked over at the massive, black head of her companion._

_"Ya know what, I think, Ezi?" her voice questioned. The warg's only sign of acknowledgement of her master speaking was a tilt of her head and the perking of her left ear. Otherwise, the warg's eyes were shut softly and she made no movements. Khadinah seemed fine with this though, as she titled her head back up to the sky, her bright turquoise eyes shining. "I think tha' the sky ne'er sleeps and is always awake," she said with an innocence only_ fo_und in children._

_And technically she was a child. She was only 24 years old, a baby in the eyes of a dwarf. Of course, her day of reaching maturity was only sixteen years away, but it still was a time of immaturity and innocence for her._

_Eziluk let out a small rumble that vibrated throughout her body, trying hard to listen to her young master and to not fall asleep. Khadinah knew the routine. She would bore her best friend to death with her stories at night. But she liked to think that it was just too late for Eziluk to stay up._

_"Aye," she said softly, sitting up now, her legs criss-cross fashion. Her small hands were laid flat on the grassy ground behind her, the_ _feeling of the green blades tickling her slightly. A little giggle escaped her lips then as she turned to face Eziluk's head once more. "Wanna know wha' Mister Gandalf tol' me once? I bet ya do!" she exclaimed excitedly. She then looked back up at the starry sky, a faraway look entering her twinkling eyes._

_"He said, tha' the sky ne'er gets rest. Ya know why, Ezi? He said tha' the sky has ta keep the sun and moon ali'e. Gandalf said tha' one day, the moon and sun shared the beautiful sky, but the stars were lonely. They begged the sky ta let 'em have the moon and the clouds could have the sun. So the sky agreed and ripped the two away from each other. The sun and moon were very sad and it would rain constantly because they were crying all the time. So, ta make up fer his mistake, the sky never rests so the sun and moon may admire each other. And one day, Gandalf said, the sky will finally get 'is rest and the sun and moon will be together again," she spoke with such a fascination that Eziluk finally opened her left eye, taking in the wild excitement emitted from the young dwarrowdam._

_Khadinah then snapped from her daze and seemed to remember something. She scrambled from her position to her traveling pack and then opened it hurriedly. Her eyes were wide and full of excitement. Her hands dug quickly into the brown pack, a concentrated furrow of her brows forming. "It's gotta be in here somewhere," she muttered quietly, a little annoyance hidden in her voice. She withdrew her hands and sat back on her feet. A confused look settled on her young features._

_She looked so young in that moment. Her hair was pure black, the occasional silver glean coming from her beads and clasps that were littered through the mass of curls. Her side burns were long, yes, but they barely travelled past her jawline, the braids in them thin and short. Her face was rounder and far more softer than what it would come to look like. Her nose looked a little too long for her face, as her face hadn't confirmed to her dwarfish heritage yet. Her skin was smooth, not a single scar poisoning the ebony pallor. No lines from stress nor worry had formed yet, but they would given time. Her ears were still forming, the pointed look not given enough time to mature yet. Her eyes though, they held such innocence that one would question her age constantly. People would always believe her younger than she actually was._

_Khadinah was a child still and she looked like one just as much._

_"I swear I put tha' ma'erial somewhere," she muttered, a hand reaching up to grasp her round chin lightly. "Oh yah!" she exclaimed suddenly, the thoughtful expression from her face disappearing suddenly. Her body moved quickly and she reached over_ _Eziluk's large frame to grasp another brown pack. Her fingers were closed around the straps tightly as she lifted it over Eziluk's body. "Found it!"_

_She hurriedly opened it and a look of contentment filled her features as she seemed to grab what she was looking for. Her hands withdrew themselves from the sack and along with them came a shimmering fabric that was long. In the light, it looked to be midnight blue. But in the dark, it looks to be black. A smile uplifted Khadinah's features and also her spirits. She grabbed hold of the other side of the long piece of fabric and held it up from her sitting position._

_"Mister Gandalf gave this ta me, Ezi," Khadinah spoke kindly, her voice soft. She turned her head to see Eziluk's own lifted in curiosity. "He ga'e it ta me after tha' story. He said ta make a cloak with this, so it may always protect me," she said, a look of adoration towards the fabric filling her eyes to the brim. "But I uh, I kinda fergot until now. So, Imma make me cloak now," she said with a sense of embarrassment at her forgetfulness and then a sense of want. She wanted to make this cloak and do as Gandalf told her. For she knew that he wasn't kidding when he said it'd protect her._

_She would end up staying awake all night into the early hours of the day to finish the cloak_.

_***~•~***_

Khadinah smiled down softly at the fabric that had upheld Gandalf's promise. It had protected her, like a little lucky charm. And to her, it was her lucky charm, as she never took it off and she always found luck on her side. Well, most of the time. Like in life-or-death situations, luck always kept her alive. Now, normal situations? Not so much.

"Dinah?" the voice of Kili rang throughout the air. Khadinah turned around slightly, the want from earlier to cry leaving her body without a trace. Her eyes spotted the younger dwarf walking towards her, a cautiousness to his step. She rolled her eyes at this. She knew why he was being cautious. It didn't help that she had been gone for a good hour, the last anyone seeing her was her face contorted painfully, reflecting her newfound pain.

"Kee, ya ain't gonna break me if ya walk normally," she said with a hint of teasing in her tone. She didn't want people to walk near her like they were stepping on glass. It was a reason she had learnt to bottle up her emotions so much. She didn't enjoy people knowing how she felt nor how she acted when she felt certain emotions.

A sigh escaped Kili and he then trotted happily on over to the right side of the stone bench. He plopped himself down right next to Khadinah with a smile on his face. "Good. Maamr warned me tha' ya might be a bit out of it, so she tol' me to be careful," he said, his eyes searching her face.

Khadinah laughed and a smile reflected itself on her own lips. "Well, tell yer mother tha' I hate when people are careful around me," she said with a serious tone and a joking subtleness to it.

"As ya command," Kili joked, earning a chuckle from Khadinah. Her eyes squinted slightly when she laughed, lines appearing around her eyes. No dimples formed around her lips, just the common smile-lines took over around her mouth. But she liked it that way. She found dimples to be adorable yes, but that's exactly why she hated them. She didn't want to seem cute or adorable. She wanted to seem rough and fierce. If she smiled and dimples appeared, that would not help her case whatsoever.

Then, a thought occurred in Khadinah's mind. Something she forgot about until she looked at Kili.

"I just remembered something," Khadinah spoke suddenly. A lazy smile was on her lips as she looked over at Kili. "Ya have a brother, yah?" she asked for confirmation. She watched as Kili tried to then play off the tensing of his frame, and she narrowed her eyes slightly. _Why would Kili tense at the mention of his brother? _she pondered.

"I do," he said, his voice a little strained.

"Tell me abou' him," Khadinah said, interested in Kili's brother, the other son of Dis.

Kili seemed stressed for a moment and ran a hand through his shoulder-length brunette hair. His eyes held conflict in them and Khadinah wanted to know why. _What was Kili thinking at the moment?_

"Fili is his name," Kili said after a moment.

"Fili?"

"Aye," Kili said, a small smirk on his lips. "Me maamr and taad weren't the best at pickin' out names," Kili joked. This caused a small laugh to shake through Khadinah.

"So what's 'Fili' like?" Khadinah asked, interested and curious. She had never had a sibling, so learning about one from someone was the closest she would get to having one.

"He's the **perfect** son," Kili suddenly spat out. A look of envy had entered his eyes at the moment, surprising Khadinah substantially. "The **perfect heir to the throne** once Uncle Thorin steps down," he said with venom in his voice. Khadinah wondered then if he was never given the chance to rant about his brother. _No wonder he has all this pent up anger it would seem_, she thought.

Kili then gave a sigh and a look of guilt controlled his face. "I mean, I love me brother. I would follow him to the ends of the earth. I would gladly stand in his shadow so he could one day rule. But I grow tired of it at times. He has girls fawning over him, and ne'er has he cast one of them a second glance. He has people practically bowing to him already! He has all this attention, yet he throws it all to the side," Kili began to list off all the things his brother had yet didn't seem to want. Khadinah stayed quiet as her friend spoke avidly.

"He knows how ta fight like a real dwarf, with a war hammer and dual swords and knives! I can barely manage one sword as it is," he spoke sadly, his head pointed downwards slightly. "He has a beard, and then there's me! I can't e'en call this a beard," he pointed towards the dark scruff lining his jaw.

"He does everything with me and for me," Kili then stated, a look of sadness filling his chocolate eyes. "He tosses everything he's given so he can spend time with me, or spar with me, or just be in the same room as me. It angers me so much! He has everything, but because of me, he has nothing."

Khadinah's eyes widened as Kili seemed to slouch over, his frame shaking lightly. She quickly wrapped her arms around the younger dwarf and cooed lightly to him. "Hey, Kee, it's all 'ight. It's all 'ight," she said softly. She rubbed her hand up and down Kili's back as he got his little fit out of his system. She knew that feeling of being alone when you needed someone with you to help. She knew it all too well, and she didn't want Kili to experience it, even if she wasn't the best at comforting.

"Kili look at me," she spoke softly, her voice holding just enough sternness in it. Her turquoise eyes were met by sad, chocolate-brown ones. A small smile lifted up the corners of her lips as she held Kili by the shoulders. "Listen Kee," she began, "I ain't gonna pretend to know what yer going through. I ne'er will. But listen ta me now, cause there is one thing I know fer sure. Yer brother loves ya with all of his heart. He goes out of his way because, I'm gonna assume this here, he's yer older brother," she went out on a limb, sighing in satisfaction as Kili simply nodded his head, "and it's his job ta take care of ya. It don't matter if yer tall, short, fat, skinny, ugly, an elf even. Yer brother will love ya till the end of time and will do anything ta make ya happy."

Khadinah had to admit, that was a pretty damn good speech on her part.

"Aye, I guess," Kili said, a faux defeated look on his face.

Khadinah then caught on to him though. "Oh no! Not a simple, I guess! Ya litt'e rascal!" she exclaimed, a fake stern tone in her voice. "I made tha' up on the spot! Ya will respect tha' damn good speech o' mine," she laughed as Kili jumped up in mock horror and began running from her outstretched arms.

A series of laughs emitted from them both as they began running around like children in the grassy area around them, oblivious to the reality surrounding them.

* * *

**_A/N: Another update in less than 24 hours?! Yes. I can accomplish such a thing. Also, I'm sticking to around 3,500 words per chapter because then I can finish them faster and not become distracted.  
So basically, I'm kinda on a Hobbit and LOTR binge right now, seeing as I just watched the Hobbit BOTFA extended edition.  
Also, just for confirmation, this story is set 19-20 years before the events of The Hobbit through the Battle of the Five Armies. So I'll progress with this original story and then progress into the events of The Hobbit. I'll be doing a mix of the book and movies, as I want as much detail as possible.  
So yeah. Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows!_**

Love,  
P❤


	6. Chapter 5

**_A/N: Happy late Valentine's Day to everyone or Saint-Valentin's Day. Thank y'all for the support that y'all have provided me! This chapter will be in the pov of two specific people and I think y'all will enjoy it, I know I did whilst writing it! Anyways let's cut to the chase!  
Ha, uh PS, I had horrible writer's block once I got to a certain part, you'll prob be able to tell. So due to this, the chapter is shorter._**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit nor LOTR. Those belong to JRR Tolkien and the man who brought them to life, the talented Peter Jackson. I only own Khadinah, Khänshólē, my version of dark elves, and any unrecognizable characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Khadinah sat merrily with Kili, both snacking on apples. Dwarves weren't huge fans of vegetables and fruits like the elves, but every once in a while they appreciated a good fruit or two. Apples were Khadinah's favorite. She had always had a supply of them tucked away in her brown, traveling pack. But not just any apples. She would only eat the dark red ones. They were too sweet like the light reds and they weren't too spur like the greens. She had found the perfect balance and only ate those of that balance.

"I spy, with me litt'e eye," Kili mused, one hand scratching his chin and the other holding his dark red apple. Khadinah had been smirking in triumph earlier, as Kili had swore on his life he would never eat fruit as a snack. But that didn't turn out great on his part. Khadinah had forced him to eat an apple and now, he was on his second one. "Something tha' is…blue."

Khadinah rolled her eyes at the simpleness of this game. She had never played it, never even heard of it until Kili introduced it to her. She was very good, according to Kili. He would say she was a witch or something because he picked the hardest objects and she always got them in one or two guesses. And, she was good at picking stuff. Kili had forfeited each round saying it was too hard. Really, Khadinah believed she picked the easier objects.

Khadinah looked around the grassy clearing, which was situated in the forest near the markets. Her turquoise eyes searched each blade of grass, each pine tree, each leaf. She looked at every detail in the clearing but found none to be blue. Her head then tilted upwards and she cocked her head. The sky was blue, but that'd be too obvious for Kili to pick. No, there had to be something else that was blue.

"My eyes," Khadinah suddenly realized, a smirk on her face. She turned towards Kili, who once again wore a shocked facial expression. "My turn."

"No! That's impossible! You've won every round and that's not fair!" Kili seemed to throw a tantrum and Khadinah couldn't help but laugh at this. "Oh ya think tha' this is funny, huh?" Kili asked, a little bit of sass in his annoyed voice.

"I believe it hilarious, Kee," Khadinah said between her laughter. "Yer a grown dwarf and yer jealous I'm beatin' ya in a game for children!" she laughed even harder at this fact and fell onto her back from her sitting position.

"I ain't jealous," Kili huffed indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest and turning away from Khadinah slightly. She turned her head at this moment and couldn't help it when a laugh ripped through her once again, causing her to snort. Her hands reached up suddenly and tried to stop her hard laughter, which resulted in snorts.

Kili turned to face Khadinah, a look of humor on his face. "Snort when we laugh, do we?" he teased, a laugh bubbling up inside him.

"No."

Kili then laughed heartily at Khadinah, who's hands were covering her lower face and nose. A red tint of embarrassment had crawled and laid sitting on her cheeks, the sun shining down on them making the coloring more prominent. She was embarrassed by her uncommon form of laughter. It had made her a laughing stock in one town she now realized she had stayed in for two long. It was a reason she hasn't laughed in years. That and the fact she had no one to laugh with.

She sent a glare Kili's way, who was laughing his ass off mind you. And he was laughing his ass off at Khadinah, not with her. Now, Kili was younger and didn't know what Khadinah had been through, but it still didn't give him the right to laugh at her. Nice double standards, Khadinah thought bitterly in her head at herself.

Then, a plot formed in her head. A really sinister plot.

Khadinah gave a huff and stood from her spot on the smooth, grassy ground. Her hands, as they helped push her up, felt each drop of dew on each blade of grass. Leaving the coolness of the comfortable grass was not what she wanted, but pranking Kili was what she wished to do. And her wishes overruled her wants at the moment. So, she would leave comfort for pleasure.

Kili seemed to now notice Khadinah standing up, an annoyed look on her face. She had to stop herself from smirking as he stopped laughing. She began walking away, her arms crossed over her chest as she stomped. Khadinah was not built for acting, not one bit. So, with Kili falling for this, she couldn't help but feel even better. It may or may not have stroked her ego a little, which isn't always the best thing. Her ears perked at the sound of a body scrambling up from the grass and hurriedly walking towards her.

Khadinah felt Kili place a hand on her shoulder, a sigh escaping him. She was waiting for him to start apologizing and begging her to come back and sit with him again. But he didn't. It stayed silent in the clearing, the only sound being their breathing and the occasional chirps of birds. Khadinah began getting antsy. Why wasn't he falling for it? Why was he silent? But then her questions were answered.

"Ya know, Dinah," Kili said, his voice in faux disappointment,"yer a really bad actor. Leave the jokes ta me."

Khadinah spun around, her mouth slightly agape. "H-how di-did ya know?!" she exclaimed in confusion.

"Cause I am the master joker, along with Fili. We invented it," Kili stated proudly, a smirk on his face. Khadinah gave a scoff and rolled her eyes. The ego of most dwarves was insufferable. Kili just happened to have one of those egos when it came to certain things, even if he wasn't the most self-conscious dwarf on the earth.

Of course, that was the same for Khadinah. She, at moments, had a large ego. But mainly, she tried her best to not carry one around. She didn't want to be that one who get themselves killed because of their ego. And just her luck, she had a very large ego when it came to sword fighting. She believed herself to be the best. She realized that there were people probably better than her, but she had yet to meet them and duel with them, so she was still the best in her mind. Her self-consciousness had nothing to do with that part of her ego, never would. But it did play a part in how she acted in public instead of with people she knew. So, she knew how Kili was and understood it immensely.

"Well, it woulda been kind of ye ta at least pretend I fooled ya," she said, a roll of her eyes accompanying it.

Kili gave a simple laugh and threw his arm around her shoulders, as if he were a merchant trying to sell her something 'great'. Khadinah could only glare at hit arm, hoping it would burn off soon (all in good fun of course). "Ya see, Dinah, there ain't any fun in doin' tha'. Tha' would simply make me look stupid, and you a genius. Now, are either of them true? No. I'm the genius, and yer the dumb one. Tha' be how we complete each other, ya see?"

"I fail ta see how yer the smar' one between us both," Khadinah laughed, thinking Kili to be the lesser of the two in mental capabilities.

Kili gave a mock gasp and put a hand to his chest…where there was no heart on that side. Khadinah cocked an eyebrow as her taller friend stood in front of her. As he was about to speak, Khadinah moved his hand to the left side of his chest, a smirk on her lips.

"Ah yah, thanks," Kili said, a smile on his lips. He then gave a cough as if to clear his throat and then spoke in a hurt tone. "Ya know, Dinah, tha' really hurts. Right here, ya know?" he said, pointing to where his heart was. "I trusted tha' ya had faith in me smarts," he said, pretending to sniffle now.

"Yer trust was misplaced then," Khadinah said, a teasing tone in her voice.

"It would appear so," Kili said, a glint now appearing in his eyes. Khadinah cocked an eyebrow in suspicion then, the glint in Kili's eyes not trustful whatsoever.

"Kee, whatever yer gon-" Khadinag began but never finished.

"I'm gonna tickle ya," he laughed and his arms shot out towards his best friend.

Khadinah gave a small screech and tried to escape the brunette dwarf's clutches, but she failed. Kili had longer arms and therefore, could reach her from further away. She felt his hands grab her waist in a platonic manner and begin to wiggle his fingers slightly. Khadinah couldn't stop herself from letting out a higher-pitched laughter. She felt her cheeks rise and crinkles form next to her eyes due to a large smile that covered her features.

"K-Kee!" Khadinah managed to sputter out through laughter. They were acting like such children. But Khadinah could understand why. She for one, had never really had a childhood. It consisted of running, learning as much as possible as quickly as possible. It consisted of death and despair. The only lights in her life during childhood were Eziluk and Gandalf, when he could help her a little here and there. Kili had only had his brother as his light. He never had friends outside of her family that were his age. So, when his brother, who was five years his senior (which Khadinah now knew), had issues to attend to, Kili was literally all alone. Khadinah at least always had Eziluk. So perhaps this was their way of making up for lost time.

"Not until ya say the magic word," Kili laughed out, a teasing tone in his voice.

Khadinah's pride didn't want her to fall victim to this trap. She didn't want to be forced to say please because Kili was torturing her with tickles. She didn't want to succumb to that. Now yer being dramatic, Khadinah laughed at her thoughts. Kili had rubbed off on her in their short time reunited as friends in Ered Luin.

"P-please Kee!" Khadinah laughed out, echoing Kili. "Spare me!" she couldn't stop laughing as Kili continued his onslaught of tickles. It was so childish, Khadinah knew that. But it had been years since she had felt…free in a sense. She'd never been this free in her whole life really. So why not seize the moment, no matter how childish?

"Al'ight, al'ight," Kili's voice startled her.

Suddenly, the tickling subsided, and with it, Khadinah's breath came back to her. Their laughter died down after a few seconds and they simply breathed deeply, as laughter and tickling someone does take quite the toll on one's body. Well, not exactly, but you catch my meaning.

Kili suddenly threw an arm over Khadinah's shoulders, using his height to his advantage and quickly grinding his fist lightly upon Khadinah's messy, black hair. A sound of annoyance escaped her as she glared sideways at Kili. Her annoyed, turquoise eyes caught Kili's mischievous, chocolate orbs and a smirk spread across Kili's face. All Khadinah could do was huff and cross her arms over her chest.

Outside, she was annoyed. But inside?

She was the happiest she had ever been.

* * *

Fili breathed heavily as adrenaline coursed through his pumping veins. Ponies were a hassle to ride upon for dwarves, but it came naturally to taller dwarves like Fili and his family. They were all gifted with height that was damned near impossible for the rest of the dwarvish population. Fili knew he only stood around 4'9-4'10 at most, but it was height nonetheless. So now, he was thanking Mahal for that advantageous height boost.

His gloved hands held tightly onto the brown, leather reins that controlled his bay pony. His boots dug into the flanks of his companion as he spurred him on, hoping for him to take the hint to try and push faster. He knew he was already pushing Chestnut (in Fili's defense, he named the pony that after losing a drinking contest and after staggering into the stables) to his limits, and Fili was guessing the beast couldn't go much faster, lest his heart wish to burst inside his large chest.

Fili's wrists slightly snapped, spurring the pony on even more. His baby-blue eyes could see the steam rolling off of the bay pony in waves. He could spot the 'smoke' emanating from his pumping nostrils. Fili could feel the sweat cascading down both his own and Chestnut's bodies. Fili was damn near killing the poor creature.

But he couldn't give up. He needed to catch this Orc. He had to.

If he didn't, the Orcs would gather intel on Ered Luin's favorable position in the mountains. They would learn that Thorin was King of Ered Luin, but still the same King in Exile. They would learn their plots, their schemes, their ideas, and plans! They would learn of everything that filty Orc, whom Fili was chasing down, had to offer. Someone had betrayed them all, allowing an Orc into their war room (which hadn't been used in years). Someone had fed the filth information. Someone was to die whence Fili arrived back home.

"C'mon," Fili urged quietly, his eyes trained on the warg rider. The creatures were not four pony lengths in front of him. Fili knew he could reach them. He just needed to go faster and urge Chestnut even more. Perhaps bribe the equine? Extra carrots and sugar cubes perhaps? Yes! "Chestnut, if you can get next to that warg inna minute, I'll let you have twice as many carrots and sugar cubes each before bed each night."

This seemed to spur the pony on, for Fili watched in amusement as the length between him and his target shortened. He pulled one hand away from the reins, trusting himself enough to control with one hand. His right hand reached to his belt and found the sheath for his sword. He felt up the detailed protection and then felt the stone hilt of the sword. Fili's fingers curled around the pommel and whipped the weapon out. The sun glinted wildly upon the steel blade, shining brightly. A smirk curled on Fili's lips as his eyes narrowed on his target, his fingers twitching in excitement.

That was the thing that separated Fili and his younger brother in personalities at the moment. Kili approached situations with caution and followed through with caution till the end, never finding excitement in battling. But Fili, whilst cautious at first would follow through with the battle in an excited state and an almost blood lust. Fili enjoyed fighting, too much perhaps. But he did not care, he didn't care for other's opinions. He was good at fighting and due to that, enjoyed it. Fili knew though, that one day, he would have to be more cautious and less reckless. That day though, was not in his near future.

Fili felt the wind whip against his face, causing his braids to hit his chin lightly. It tickled him greatly and he was unable to do anything about it at the moment, which bothered him. But he would not let anything distract him from the task at hand. Twelve had left Ered Luin to track the Orc pack. Only four would return. Fili would make sure the Orcs did not learn of their intel and he would get revenge for them killing his task force. He was gifted the opportunity to lead eleven…respected dwarves in this supposedly simple task, but he had failed. Thorin would surely not send him on another task such as this. He would not trust him ever again. It pushed Fili on.

The adrenaline made his head dizzy but he continued on, for revenge and need pushed him through. He blinked his eyes over and over again in rapid succession, trying to steer the black dots forming in his vision away. He could not let this Orc get away and if he fainted now, not only would he allow such an event to occur, he'd also be shamed for letting a measly little filth escape him. Neither was what Fili wished for.

_Five feet_, he thought, counting down. _Four feet, three feet, two feet, one-_

Fili swung his sword low, hacking the warg's left back leg violently. He watched as the warg's knee gave way and it gave a cry in surprise and pain. The Orc sitting upon the rigid back was thrown forward as the warg tumbled over. Its black body rolled like a log, whimpers and cries escaping the beast. Fili's eyes trained themselves on the Orc instead though, not caring what became of the warg. They were dirty animals that served even dirtier creatures.

Fili pulled lightly on Chestnut's reins and felt the pony come to a stop a few seconds later. He swung his body off of the loyal equine and strode towards the Orc who was attempting to crawl away as best he could. An overpowering wave of something Fili did not understand, washed over him, engulfing his sense. All he could see was red.

With his left hand he drew a throwing knife from his boot and threw it without thought. It landed where he willed and struck into the Orc's left hand. Fili didn't even flinch as the Orc let out a shrill shriek of pain. It only seemed to push him more. The Orc turned his head and once he caught sight of a livid Fili, he seemed to scramble to get the knife out of his hand. But it was no use, for the knife was stuck in the ground below his hand and lodged deep into it.

Fili stalked towards his prey and placed a boot heavily upon the back of the Orc's left knee. Fili knew the filth's legs were broken due to the way he had hit the ground and his warg had fallen upon him. Also the bones jutting out of his yellow skin proved Fili's point. In anger, Fili applied more pressure and pushed nearly all of his weight upon the newly broken knee. Another shriek ripped through the day's air. Pleas of mercy echoed and Fili could only grind his teeth.

"Is this how my friends begged to your little group of **filth**?" Fili sneered, digging his boot harder into the Orc's knee. The scream of pain seemed to encourage Fili only further as he smirked. His turquoise eyes were narrowed with a fire blazing in them so greatly that could rival the desolation of Smaug. "Is this how you acted whilst my companions were **tortured**?" Fili continued on.

A lot had happened in a matter of half a day. Fili had woken to his companions mostly dead, scattered amongst the clearing in front of their cave. He had found one, Merick, barely breathing, blood flowing profusely from wounds in his neck, chest, and left thigh. He had died in Fili's arms and whilst the two had not been close, Fili still mourned. It was his duty to do as such and he would honor that duty. He would also honor the duty of exacting revenge.

"Sadly," Fili began, pulling his foot off of the Orc's knee slightly, "I must return home to my people, as I need to explain the reason went from twelve to only four." He had spoken calmly, too calmly for the broken Orc. The creature's black eyes followed the stoic movements of Fili, not trusting the dwarf to leave peacefully. And Fili did exactly that.

He slammed his foot down and swung his sword down on the Orc's head. The filth had not even blinked before its pathetic life had ended. The black blood sprayed out as the head split in two, gray matter pooling out slowly. The eyes now hung lazily from the head, the nerves holding then in now severed. Fili didn't even blink, he just gazed down, the fire still alight in his eyes.

* * *

**_A/N: Oh ho ho. A little dark at the end there with Fili kinda going all crazy. But in my eyes I always felt that that would be his reaction should he ever be confronted with that situation whilst still young.  
Also, I love writing Kili/Khadinah friendship fluff. It's so much fun!  
Anyways, have a great week my little mints!_**

**_Love,  
P❤_**


	7. Chapter 6

**_A/N: So chapter 6, eh? Well, ain't that an accomplishment for me. Can't believe I'm actually being consistent. Anyways, haha, a good surprise this chapter! Also thank you all for the love and support this story has gotten!  
Love you all!_**

**Disclaimer: The usual**

Black Speech =** Word**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

_One Fortnight Later…_

Khadinah sat quietly on her bed, her eyes slightly sad. Many talks with Thorin about her father had occurred in the past two weeks in her stay. She had learned everything about her father and more. She learned all of his likes, dislikes, hobbies, ideas, everything. She learned what people thought of him, his family, and who loved him. Thorin would speak of him like a brother and Khadinah couldn't help but wish to cry each time they spoke. Speaking of her father only made it so much harder for her to realize he had been dead for sixty-two winters.

And soon…it would be sixty-three.

Durin's Day was approaching quickly, meaning a new dwarven year was to occur. It was the only dwarfish holiday she celebrated, in fact, it was the only holiday she celebrated. Her dark elf heritage held no holidays and she followed both religions and mythos closely. She prayed to Mahal and Anphera nightly, and would find in the mornings her prayers unanswered. She would simply pray for peace of mind for her father's death, but it seemed that both would turn their heads to the side. They would cast away her ideas and hopes.

This morning however, she would go and pray to Anphera. Khadinah had always felt closer to the dark elf "goddess" than Mahal. She did not know why, but perhaps it was because she felt less dwarfish, and it created a strain perhaps. She had learned from Gandalf both religions and ways to follow, but she never grasped the dwarfish traditions. She simply felt…left out of them.

Khadinah sighed and pushed the fur covers of her bed off of her body, stretching her legs slightly. She wore a simple night shirt that fell right above her knees. Dís always insisted that Khadinah wear a sleeping gown, but every time she refused graciously. Wearing a night shirt was what she was used to. She would wear it in the shabby inns that housed her on harsh nights. She just grew used to them and found it hard to adjust to such…royal living. She wasn't even royalty, she was just…royalty's friend.

Kadinah threw her legs over the side of the short, wood-frame bed. She silently wished for a less comfortable bed, for she did not wish to leave it. But she needed to attend to her duties as a daughter of Anphera and as a sparring partner of Kíli (which was Thorin's suggestion). So, she would force herself out of bed and into the light of day. She did not wish it, but she had spent all of her life dealing with exactly that: not getting what she wished for. It was just all too normal for her.

Khadinah walked over to a wooden wardrobe that stood a little taller than herself and cocked her head slightly. _How in the world did they have access to all of this spruce and oak wood?_ she thought dumbly. But then she smacked her face in embarrassment. _They're surrounded by forest, ya dumbass._

She simply shook her head with a smirk on her face and opened the wardrobe. Her simple traveling outfit was folded neatly inside, her black boots set nicely next to the stack. Seeing as how Khadinah refused to wear anything but traveling clothes, she wasn't surprised that the stack and boots were the only things visible in there. _Unless…_she thought. Suddenly, she checked each darkest corner of the wardrobe, satisfied she hadn't found a secret dress Dís had snuck in.

A light chuckle surpassed her lips as she pulled her night shirt over her head. Her black curls got pulled up with the neckline and she knew it was off once the mass of hair fell onto her newly bare back. Khadinah had never worn a slip or anything of that sort. What she wore underneath her clothing was simply her skin. She found more garments to be useless and restricting.

She looked down then, admiring her body slightly. She like her body really, as it was not thin, but it was not fat. She was built from years of harsh conditions. She looked all dwarf in build. Her shoulders were broad for a female, but it was normal. Her chest was too large for her liking, but she had gotten used to it after all these years. Khadinah did not sport the dipping waist of every female that seemed to come across her in her travels. She was straighter (with a small dip of course, but it wasn't all that attractive to men) in the waist, her abdomen built into muscle. It was something most dwarrowdams had. But a lot were on the thicker side and had rolls instead of muscles. The only part of Khadinah that could be appealing to a man or dwarf (never an elf) was her bottom half. She had large thigh and calf muscles and accompanying them was a round backside. She took pride in that part of her body. But she would always feel a bit awkward, for she was not soft like a women. She was built strongly like a man.

Shaking her head, Khadinah reached out and grasped the leathers and tunic she usually donned. The tunic was much like a man's own would be. It was gray in color and held zero designs. The sleeves were non-existent and allowed for all to see her built arms. Khadinah slipped the tunic up and over her head, using her hands to pull her hair from the neckline. The shirt's neckline traveled straight across, reaching the base of her neck and never dipping. She then grabbed her leather pants, the pale brown complimenting the gray nicely. Whilst she wore the clothes of a man, she did like to be a little classy in her style.

The leathers were a little tight and Khadinah cringed. Someone washed these damn trousers incorrectly. Someone who obviously didn't know how to wash leather. Khadinah rolled her eyes and shook it off. She could always get another pair, even if they could be expensive. She shook her head and pulled the trousers the rest of the way up, tucking in her slightly long shirt only a little.

Khadinah's eyes then spotted a gray corset and black, metal belt. She snorted at the idea of someone getting her in a corset. Never in my lifetime, she joked lightly. But the belt interested her and she would never turn down a nice looking one either. So she picked it up and adjusted it accordingly on the waist-line of her trousers. Satisfied with its weight and elasticity, Khadinah finally and quickly put on her slightly heavy boots. She used to train with ones lighter but then found heavy boots made much more progress with getting faster. So she had these black ones custom made years ago.

Finding herself to be fully dressed for the day, Khadinah took a final look around the bedroom, making sure everything was in place, for she hated being messy.

The room itself was quite large for her standards, but nothing compared to Kili's. Khadinah found the room charming in a sense with its size, finding it kind of quaint. It held room for her large, wood-frame bed, which sat against the stone wall opposite her mirror and wardrobe. Then to the wall left of her bed, a round little table with two chairs (not terribly comfy, but could be after a long training session) sat stilly. A platter that had been brought in this morning sat, untouched by Khadinah. There were days where her dwarfish appetite kicked in, but most days, she went without food, for dark elves rarely had food to eat, so they adapted. Khadinah, she held both appetites and it really was random.

To the wall opposite the table, a large open entryway and terrace were located. Curtains of a royal blue and gray mix covered the entryway to the terrace and gave Khadinah some privacy. She wasn't against it, instead, she loved it! She used to sleep under the stars, so she found it comforting that she could simply keep a little slit in the curtains, and she could feel at home.

_Strange._ The term 'at home' was strange. Khadinah had never had a 'home' per say. She really just traveled and never settled. In fact, a fortnight would be the longest she would ever stay in one place. She would revisit of course, but she never stayed long. Nature and being in the open just felt right. She didn't like being cooped up in a house, or village, or kingdom, or whatever you preferred. She liked lying against Eziluk and watching the stars above with a fire crackling and her eyes drooping shut. This thought caused Khadinah's dream state to fade and her eyes to become watery. But she quickly dabbed her eyes with her fingertips and shook her head. Prayers now, memories last.

Khadinah breathed in deeply and let out a long exhale, calming herself down and finding peace once more. Her turquoise eyes no longer held a look of remembrance and sadness. They were not emotionless, but emotion seemed to be invisible. She was hiding them, that much was true. She was digging a make-shift grave for them until she could take the time to actually bury them.

She began walking and then exited her room, the dark oak door to the left of her mirror. She had requested to simply bathe in the public baths, for she didn't want to feel like royalty, her room was perhaps already too much. But she was content at the moment and that was rare for Khadinah.

Her eyes swept the hallway before seeing not one guard on duty. _Probably switching roles at the moment_, she thought to herself before shrugging inwardly. She closed her door then, turning back around and taking a left down the stone hallway.

Khadinah listened intently as her boots made contact with the smooth stone floors. She listened to the picks attacking stone far beneath the ground. She listened to the wind whistling by as she walked by a window in the wall, one that was something she passed everyday. She listened to the faint sound of chatter and carts moving as the farmer's market was just ending today. They would go back to their fields and come back in a fortnight with the last of their crops and trades before hunkering down for the winter months. It was something that Khadinah looked forward to.

She looked forward to the winter. It was her favorite time of each year. Each winter, she grew one year older. Each winter, she was reminded of how she had to persevere. Each winter, she was reminded that only a few hours after her birth, both of her parents were dead. Each winter, Eziluk would keep her company. Why was it her favorite time if these horrible things happened to her then?

Because harsh realities make one stronger.

Each winter, she got stronger.

* * *

Khadinah sat silently in a dark area of the forest. She knew that dark times were approaching and it only showed with the blackness of the forest. The sun was high in the sky, yet, even the moon didn't seem to shine in this area. It was quiet. No birds, nor insects chirped pleasantly. It was unnerving to say the least. But Khadinah was used to the darkness, the evil that spread through the lands little by little and might one day rule again. But it might not be beaten this time. No, this time, Khadinah knew that it would leave a scrape on Arda and that scrape would fester into a wound one day. Just give it enough time without being taken care of.

Khadinah faced a tree, a symbol for the woman who supposedly created and started the dark elves.

Her name had been Anphera. She was once a Mirkwood elleth who was supposedly blessed by the Valar themselves. She was beautiful with her moonlight-pale skin and midnight black hair. Her eyes apparently were the bluest things one would ever see. But, whilst she was beautiful, she was corrupted by Sauron. She had fought in many wars and came in contact with the darkness one too many times. She grew evil and created a band of followers that spoke Black Speech in secret. She had attempted killing a human king at the time, the name of him never being recovered in the history. The king of Mirkwood at the time, having found out about this treachery, banished Anphera and her followers. They fled to a mountain range, 200 miles east of Gundabad. It was named Khänshólē and thus, the "evil" mountain grew.

Anphera and her followers used their elvish magic to go into the forbidden dark arts. They focused on raising the dead, making more orcs for the evil cause in the whole of Arda, and becoming more "loved" by Sauron. They all became blind to the fact that Sauron never wanted them. He just had wanted their abilities. Years passed and as the new "dark elves" (not the ones Tolkien referred to as "unwise" for not going through with the Great Journey and none like Eöl and his kin) emerged as a threat, everyone became aware. Everyone, men, dwarves, and elves alike all became knowing of the threat in Khänshólē. Anphera was still their leader and had been such for an age now. The second age was dark and these new forms of elves ruled it. They were Sauron's puppets, who was Morgoth's puppet.

They went through a metamorphosis one could say. Their skin turned dark, black as night. Their hair thinned and turned as dark as their hearts. Their pupils became white or very bright blue, their scleras became black as well. They thinned and hollowed, souls non-existent basically. For the entirety of The Second Age, the dark elves changed into a menacing people. And they grew as well.

Anphera had a son and two daughters, the two girls being twins. How could one so unable to love now due to the darkness within conceive? Gandalf never told Khadinah. But he did say that love is not needed to procreate. The only thing needed is the will to do such a thing. When the first generation of pure dark elves all turned 200, the final battle of the Ring (until the Third Age) had gone and passed. Anphera, along with the kin that had first betrayed the good hearts of Arda, fell in battle, watching as Isildur cut off Sauron's finger. Thus, Anphera's son, took the reins and the story continues as one might expect.

Why should Khadinah pray to Anphera, then?

Because Anphera made large mistakes and was simply a pawn in the dark game of chess. But…Khadinah couldn't deny the darkness that grew a little each passing day. Grain by grain. So, she would pray to the woman who started it all and hope that perhaps, Anphera would take a little bit away.

Khadinah bowed her head, her butt resting on her heels. Her palms laid themselves upon her calves and she breathed in deeply. She needed to do this correctly. Simply for respect and simply because she hated doing things incorrectly. The words she would need to speak though…they were words that Gandalf had advised her not to use.

**"Anphera, lady o' darkness," **Khadinah started speaking in Black Speech, the words rolling effortlessly off of her tongue. But they tasted bitter to her and she wished she could simply hurry and then wash the taste out of her mouth.** "I beg help, my creator, my leader. I ask of ye to do me one favor. I ask for ye to lessen my burden o' this darkness. I ask fer ya to use the little light in yer soul so ye may lift a little of this weight off my tired shoulders, my lady. I ask these things of you, and I pray, you are resting peacefully wherever you may lie,**" she spoke quickly and quietly, her voice probably sounding like a jumble of words should someone pass her. Black Speech was not a graceful language like Sindarin. Nowhere near it.

Khadinah sighed and pressed a small kiss to her palm before pressing her palm to the dark bark covering the tree. She must've pulled away too quickly, for she gave a slight hiss as she felt the sharp wood pierce her skin lightly. Her turquoise eyes traveled down to her palm and saw a little bit of blood dribbling out of a thin cut. But it wasn't red.

Blood ran black in her veins.

* * *

Khadinah crossed her arms, a smirk twitching at her lips. Kili stood in front of her, his hands on his knees and a pant escaping his body multiple times. His sword was somewhere thrown across the ring where they were sparring and practicing. Her schedule had proceeded to be the same for the last week. Spar for an hour right after midday, then practice for another until luncheon. Khadinah found it fitting to do it that way as she could evaluate him first then tweak things later. It definitely seemed to help him.

"You've gotten better," Khadinah praised her brunette friend, popping a hip out slightly as she looked down and studied a few spots of dirt on her boot. "Ya still don't block two swords well enough, but we'll be addressing tha' today anyways," she seemed to wave off as an afterthought to herself.

"Easier said…than done," Kili took a pause between the four words he managed to utter out. His face was slightly contorted as he turned to look up at Khadinah's face. One side was lifted slightly, his left cheek up and his left eyebrow down. It made him look even more tired than he probably was.

"Maybe, but ya are getting better. Ya lasted a good half an hour 'fore fallin' apart," Khadinah said truthfully.

Kili gave a groan an fell backwards on his rear. He seemed defeated.

"Only half an hour?"

"Aye," Khadinah nodded her head. Kili groaned and let the top half of his body make contact with the dirt below.

"Ugh, I'll ne'er get anywhere near as good as ya," he dramatically proclaimed, the back of his left hand resting on his sweat covered forehead. His dramatics simply made Khadinah laugh lightly and conjure a smile on her face.

"Oh, now I wouldn't be so sure of tha', Kee," Khadinah said, sticking a sword in the ground and leaning on it slightly. Kili, she had noticed, was strong in sword fighting and archery. In fact, Khadinah found he was better than most when it came to archery. She would study his posture and form and she then realized that he had trained a long time by someone also skilled in the art of bowery. Most likely Thorin, as he was a talented dwarf who knew the crafts of war. "Yer strong in many aspects, but ya just need a wee bit more practice," Khadinah said simply, giving him the facts and deciding not to sugarcoat anything.

Kili huffed and sighed, moving his forearm to cover his eyes from the blistering sun that beat down upon the pair. Khadinah simply smiled at the image of Kili. He had seemed like the little brother she had always wanted. She thought of Eziluk as a protector and friend, someone she could confide in even if the warg couldn't respond. But Kili was different. He responded, he listened, he spoke, he acted. He wished and wanted for her attention, and Khadinah would be lying should she say she didn't like it. In fact, she thrived in it. Did it make her feel bad? Not one bit, for she returned that attention to the dwarf who became like a little brother to her.

"C'mon Kili, get up," a rough voice boomed unintentionally. Khadinah's ears perked slightly and she turned with a smile to see Dwalin, brother of Balin and best friend to Thorin.

Khadinah, in the fortnight of residing in Ered Luin, had become introduced to many that stood behind Thorin with a fierceness she dare not tempt. Balin was a kind dwarf who was younger than Thorin, yet looked much older. He had helped her with earning her keep (as she had told Thorin she would not stay without working a little) by asking her to sort things in the library and other somewhat trivial tasks. Dwalin, was younger than Balin, only by a couple years though. He was rough at first but he soon warned up to Khadinah a few days ago, for he appreciated her training Kili and allowing him time off. She liked both of them as well, and found them good company to keep. But she mainly stuck either by herself or with Kili.

"Master Dwalin," Khadinah smiled and placed her hands on her hips, throwing a scolding look towards the older dwarf, "I thought I told ya tha' I would be training with Kili today."

"Aye, ya did lass." Dwalin nodded, his tattoos upon the top of his head turning lighter in the light. "I ain't gonna train 'im. Just wanna see how he fares against ya," he said simply, walking over to Kili and kicking him lightly in the side to stir him from his spot on the ground.

"Ugh," Kili groaned, causing Khadinah to stifle a laugh by coughing.

"Get up ya lazy sack o' potatoes," Dwalin said, giving Kili's shoulder a slight nudge with the front of his boot. "Or I will kick ya again and I won't hold back."

That seemed to cause Kili to move at such a speed Khadinah had not seen before. She cocked an eyebrow as Kili stood once again, his sword in hand. "Now why can't ya use tha' speed whilst training?" Khadinah teased, causing Kili's face to flush in embarrassment. Dwalin let out a hearty laugh as he stepped out of the ring to simply spectate on the edge. His arms crossed and he held a scrutinizing expression already. They hadn't even started yet!

Khadinah pulled her sword from the ground and unsheathed her other from her belt (earlier, she had stopped by her rooms to retrieve both swords before coming to spar). She spun her right one slightly, angling it for a better grip. Her feet staggered slightly, her right foot in front. Her body was relaxed, not a single muscle taut. And then, she shot out, not bothering to wait for Kili to make the first move.

He was expecting it, pleasantly surprising Khadinah. His sword came out and blocked both of her swords as they crossed, the broadside of his weapon facing her. A smile grew upon her face as Kili pushed her back with his sword. A look of concentration appeared on his features and Khadinah felt a swell of pride, inflating her ego tenfold.

Khadinah slowly circled Kili, her eyes taking in where he was weakest._ One sword high, another low,_ she thought calmly, seeing that he wouldn't be able to block both. She cocked her head to the side and as she circled him, her mind was running possibilities like no tomorrow. _Go too high and you possibly hurt yourself and him. Go too low and you risk the same. Have to find a medium._

Khadinah's eyes sparked then and she darted towards Kili, using only one sword really. The other was like her shield whilst she attacked with her right. Kili caught her sword with his and spun it lightly, causing her right sword to become immobile for a second. Kili used that second however to try and land the "killing blow" but Khadinah was smart. She raised her left sword, catching Kili's sword. Her knees bent slightly under the weight he was putting into the attack, but to fix that, she spun slightly. This caused Kili to stumble as Khadinah was no longer "holding up his weight". She stood suddenly and held both swords at her side as Kili stood. He turned around and charged at her.

She only caught a flash of brown hair before she was thrust into combat once more. Kili aimed to swing at her side, but Khadinah batted the attack away with her left sword, feeling a little bit of backlash from deflecting a powerful thrust. Kili seemed to recover instantly and tried to trick her. He acted as if he was going to swing high, but then changed his trajectory suddenly and swung low, aiming for her ankles. It was a trick Khadinah had taught Kili. She wasn't about to let the student beat the teacher with their own tricks.

Khadinah side stepped Kili's attack, his sword swinging right in front of her legs. His momentum then carried him slightly and he had to sidestep to stop himself from falling. But it was all the distraction Khadinah needed.

She took her chances then, calculating how things would play out should she do this correctly. Khadinah took a lunge towards Kili, batting his sword away from his too loose grip, then spinning behind him and holding her swords to his neck and to the back of his knees. This act rendered him dead should he ever face it in battle.

"Dead," Khadinah said simply, breathing heavily. She stepped away from Kili and sheathed both of her swords, her blood pumping fiercely in her ears. This round had been much faster and much more calculated than their half an hour round. That round was simply slower so Khadinah could gauge Kili's reactions to certain moves. But this was pure sparring and Khadinah loved the blood rush she got from fighting.

She watched Dwalin as he clapped his hands, a look of satisfaction gleaming in his dark eyes. A smile appeared on her lips and she turned towards Kili as he turned towards her, sword newly in hand. He was leaning on it now, catching a breather, but the gleam in his eyes told her the unspoken words that made her smirk.

"Round three, my friend?"

* * *

The dwarf stood quietly, his blue eyes scrutinizing each movement the two dwarves made in the sparring ring. They gauged how well each did in response to the other. They watched as the two seemed to "dance" in the fight, their skills seemingly matched. But the dwarf realized that the female was superior in skill after a few more movements and the ending of their little spar. Her two swords were an interesting choice, as he himself used that choice of weaponry.

Her dark skin and mass of black curls also made him intrigued. Not to mention her eyes. His eyesight wasn't the best, for he was a dwarf. But there was one angle where she seemed to stare right at him, all the way up to his perch in the mountain. He soon realized she was taking a breather and looking up. She couldn't have known he was there, could she? It didn't matter. The angle gave him a better look at her eyes and the deep turquoise color they possessed. They were bright yes, but they seemed deep at the same time, much like his own. Who she was? That was a question the dwarf would soon have answered.

But for now, he simply watched as his brother and the female jumped into a spar once more.

* * *

**_A/N: First fight scene ever, and meh, it was okay. Needs some work I think.  
Also, more in depth detail about the dark elves that resided in Khänshólē and not the ones Tolkien deemed "unwise". Two completely different race of people.  
And I wonder who that last POV belonged to? The sarcasm is real lol. But seriously, who's excited? Me! Anyways, haha, love you all!_**

**_Love,  
P❤_**


	8. Chapter 7

**_A/N: Thank you all for the love and support! Here's Chapter 7 for all you lovely and amazing people who actually put up with my writing.  
PS, much shorter chapter (my apologies) for the sake of the story moving along, and setting up situations to come._**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit, yada, yada, yada. Ya catch my drift? Khadinah is mine along with Khänshólē and my version of dark elves. Deal with it.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Thorin sat at the table his family dined at usually. It was a simple round table made of dark-oak wood found in the surrounding forests of Ered Luin. Thorin sat at the head, Kíli to his right, Fíli to his left, and Dís facing him. It was a simple set up, and Thorin enjoyed the simplicity of such things. He didn't like grand dinners with his council nor the people he ruled over as a King in Exile. But he enjoyed simply being with his family and conversing with them. It made him feel much better than when he sat with dwarves he either didn't know, or didn't care for.

Tonight, Kili was missing…again. Thorin didn't feel surprised, as Kili had been missing dinners once Khadinah declined having dinners with the family. She had said it wasn't her place and that she didn't wish to intrude upon family. Thorin had found it both admirable and annoying. It was annoying because it caused Dís to go on and on about how Khadinah needed to sit with them, as she was practically family now. It was admirable because Thorin found that it seemed like something he would do.

Thorin lifted his head at the sound of the door opening and closing. Fíli walked in, Kíli nowhere in sight.

"I tried finding him, uncle." Fíli spoke, a look of disappointment on his features. "I couldn't find him anywhere," he sighed and walked up to the table, plopping down in a chair.

"I don't doubt it," Thorin spoke quietly, his face stoic in features. He didn't mind Kíli missing every once in a while, but every night? That was pushing it for Thorin. But he wouldn't say a word, he would let Kíli fix this on his own.

"It doesn't make sense," Fíli threw his hands up in exasperation. He then pinched the bridge of his nose and gave a sigh of stressed origins. "I checked every place we used to hide, play, or just talk. He wasn't in any of them! Not to mention, I haven't seen him around the kingdom whatsoever," Fíli complained slightly.

Thorin took a deep breath and let Fíli vent, knowing that the stressful mission he had been on was beginning to take its toll. Speaking of that mission…

Just as Thorin was about to ask for the details, Fíli continued his rant.

"And who was that girl he was sparring with earlier. I've ne'er seen her around Ered Luin before. She was good as well, one of the best I've seen with dual blades," the last sentence he spoke was barely audible, as if he was speaking to himself mainly. Thorin decided it couldn't hurt to indulge his nephew.

But once again, someone beat him in speaking first.

"Khadinah?" Dís questioned, a look of confusion entering upon Fíli's face. Thorin looked over to his sister and gave her a look that read 'I'll-handle-this'.

"The girl who was sparring with your brother is named Khadinah," Thorin said, looking over at Fíli who's visible confusion was fading slightly. "She's the daughter of a dwarf I was very good friends with." Thorin said a little sadly. He then shook his head to clear his mind of the memories of his deceased friend. Frelin wouldn't want him to dwell on his death, he'd want him to focus on the life of his daughter. "She met your brother two decades ago and she kept in contact with him for as long as her travels permitted her. She has finally come back and now Kíli cannot seem to leave her side unless need be," Thorin said, a chuckle being suppressed as he thought about his youngest nephew.

Thorin's blue eyes then focused on Fíli's face, trying to gauge his eldest nephew's reactions. He didn't know how Fíli would react to someone stealing his brother's attentions from him. But in Thorin's eyes, it wasn't stolen. It was simply taken. Kíli allowed for it to happen and he reveled in it, Thorin could see clearly.

"Well," Fíli started, his fingers starting to scratch lightly at the thick, blonde scruff upon his jawline, "I wanna meet her." The young dwarf held a smile on his face at the idea of his brother making a friend outside of the family, that much was obvious to Thorin. And perhaps, Thorin swore he saw the slightest hint of jealousy in his nephew's eyes, but he paid no mind to it, for he wasn't positive.

Dís gave a laugh and nodded her head, "You'll most likely meet the lass on the morrow, as she and Kíli are sparring early so they can go to the markets before the traders leave at nightfall."

"Good. I'll meet her in the morning then, perhaps see how good she is with her sword," he said thoughtfully.

Thorin, unlike his sister and nephew, was not thrilled with the idea. Whilst Khadinah had grown on him like a daughter would, he was not content with the idea of his nephews having their attentions focused on her. Fíli had lots of training to follow in the case should he ever become king. And Kíli, well he needed only sparring lessons from Khadinah, that was it. He appreciated the girl's ability to balance all the things she had taken upon herself and the friendship she had formed with his youngest nephew, but he couldn't have the two distracted.

Perhaps he could have Khadinah join The Guard? She might enjoy doing that, as she seemed to love to fight. He could have her become captain, as he was in need of a new one. The previous one, Mirtrav, confessed to feeding the Orcs information and had been banished not even an hour later. He had been taken far away from Ered Luin and carried nothing. That was his punishment and Thorin was content with it. Of course, Khadinah would need to be trained a little and she would need to be evaluated by Thorin himself, Dwalin too if need be. It could take weeks to go through the whole process and Thorin would need an interim captain. But those were specifics that could be dealt with in due time.

"Uncle?" Fíli's voice woke Thorin from his deep thoughts. He turned his head to look at his nephew once again and saw a look upon his face. A dark look. "May we discuss what happened," he started, then shot a look at his mother, "alone?"

Dís simply nodded and stood from the table, her meal only touched lightly. Thorin watched as his sister left the table and room, the grand door swinging shut behind her. A maid came in and swiped up all of the dishes, realizing that the dwarfish family would not be all too hungry that night. As soon as the dwarrowdam left, Thorin turned towards his nephew and gave a nod.

Fíli nodded in return and took a deep breath. He rested his elbows on the table and leaned in slightly, a look of seriousness on his hard features.

"The Orcs you sent me to track were no ordinary Orcs, uncle," Fíli started, his blue eyes darkening with his thoughts. "They were smart, too smart if I do say so myself. They tricked the whole dozen of us. We thought we were just going to follow them silently for a few days and then spring on them once we got the chance. But they knew what we were doing. They had split up into two groups, all looking the same. Eight rode in each group. One group would track us whilst the other would lead us on their chase. Then, when we were resting, they would switch off sneakily, a clever tactic. It was around a fortnight into the chase that everything horrible came to face us.

"We had been resting in a secluded cave, one that was difficult to find. But the Orcs could find us, they had always known where we would be. So we all slept that night, each taking turns on guard. One of us, Merick, was on guard when the Orcs attacked. That's what he told me before he died in my arms. I had slept through the whole thing, uncle! But I have right to believe that an Orc may have knocked me out, I am not sure. I can't remember much and my head burned like the pits of hell."

Thorin watched his nephew go through a transition as he told his story. He saw the grief, anger, hatred, and sorrow that his nephew felt. He saw it as plain as an open book with Khuzdul written neatly on the pages. It made Thorin's heart clench a little. His nephew was still young, but he knew that Fíli had to be introduced to betrayal and death sooner rather than later.

"I tracked down the messenger filth and had the three remaining survivors handle the stragglers of the Orc pack. Only the messenger one knew the vital intel he had stolen. So, I chased him far off and out of visual range of Ered Luin's borders. I then killed him and with it, the hopes of the Orcs obtaining any information for their leaders," Fíli pretty much concluded, the anger fueling him behind his deep blue eyes. It made Thorin cock his head, as his nephew had never shown this much anger and rage. It had definitely taken a toll on the younger dwarf.

"Uncle," Fíli seemed to hesitate on his words, "I-I took joy in killing that creature." He seemed disgusted with himself and Thorin could see why. Taking joy whilst taking a life was looked upon as monstrous and unfathomable. But Thorin understood Fíli's confusion and why he felt the way he did.

"Does that make me a monster, uncle?"

Thorin sighed and stood from his chair, walking to stand by his nephew. The dwarf who looked up at him with confused and broken blue eyes made him realize how much Fíli reminded him of himself. He had gone through the same inner turmoil as his eldest nephew and he was not about to leave him alone in this time of need.

He placed a large hand over his nephew's shoulder, feeling the furs that had kept Fíli warm throughout his travels of new. He gave a sigh and simply said:

"You could never be a monster."

* * *

Khadinah laughed loudly, then a hand slapped itself over her lips. A snigger and snort escaped her then as she tried to stuff down the laughs that wished to break free from their confinements.

"Oh shut up, will ya? Yer gonna get us in trouble," Kíli snapped, his tone hushed. Khadinah simply rolled her eyes at him and bit down a little too harshly on his hand, which was placed over her mouth.

"By Mahal, Khadinah!" Kíli gasped out, ripping his hand from her lips. "What in blazin' hells was tha' for?!" he exclaimed, his chocolate brown eyes wide and his mouth agape.

"Sorry," Khadinah smirked, throwing a simple shoulder shrug just to annoy her younger dwarf friend. "Didn't see yer hand there," she gave a small chuckle at his expression of exasperation, "and nor can I really see anythin' else for tha' matter." Her eyes were trying and failing to adjust to the blackness surrounding them. She could only see a few feet in front of her with a slight blur to her vision. If she wanted clarity in the image, she needed it inches from her face. Kíli's face was semi-clear but still had blurred features.

Kíli gave a huff and looked around the corner, checking for signs of guards or anyone for that matter. "No one's there," he muttered, a confused tone to his quiet voice. Khadinah cocked an eyebrow and stood lower than him and peaked around as well.

She couldn't see anyone, as the light of the newly risen moon shined through the little holes in the stone walls, casting some light in the darkness. It enabled Khadinah to decipher an separate wall from shadow, door from stone. It helped so much more than she could've realized. "It's as if no one was ever here today," Khadinah murmured slowly, a confused expression conquering her face.

"This makes it easy then," Kíli said, a smirk crawling over his lips and tugging at the corner. Khadinah shared the same mischievous smirk as they darted around the corner then.

They acted as shadows in the night, sneaking around corners and tiptoeing through the stone halls. They passed by many doors, the one they were aiming for never coming into their vision for quite some time.

The moon had risen slightly higher into the sky, signaling that it had fully become night time and all of Ered Luin would be retiring into their comfortable beds with food filling their bellies. But Khadinah and Kíli had not yet eaten. In fact, they hasn't eaten since midday and their stomachs growled loudly as they neared a certain door.

"Would ya please tell yer stomach to shut up?" Khadinah muttered, her own stomach growling at the idea of food.

"Not unless ya tell yer's to do the same."

They bickered like this back and forth until they reached the large door they had been adventuring towards. They both suddenly shut up and Kíli turned around to face Khadinah, a proud smirk on his face:

"Feast yer eyes upon one of the greatest kitchens in all o' Arda!"

He then spun around and pushed the doors open to reveal a large kitchen area, untouched food resting on the wooden tables and stone slabs. Khadinah's mouth dropped and she swore a little drool dribbled out of her mouth. Her stomach was ravenous and another wave of growls ripped from it. She wasn't even embarrassed by it. She was too hungry to care.

"Let's eat!"

* * *

**_A/N: Much shorter chapter and not one of my best, filler really, sorry bout that loves!_**

**_Love,  
P❤_**


	9. Chapter 8

**_A/N: Chapter 8 is here everyone! This is the chapter we've all been waiting for…maybe. I ain't gonna spoil it. What will happen? That's for me to know and you to find out if you wish.  
Also, thank you all for the support and love!_**

**Disclaimer: I wish The Hobbit was mine, but I'm gonna have to settle with only owning Khadinah, Khänshólē, and the dark elves.**

* * *

**Chapter 8  
**

* * *

Khadinah woke with a pounding in her head and a slight discomfort in her stomach. She didn't feel the comfortable furs surrounding her that had kept her warm from her room. Nor did she feel the sun on her face waking her. It was simply too foreign for her to not to jolt up.

Her fingers grasped a dagger, which was always strapped to her waist, and she sat up abruptly, the dagger held out horizontally in front of her. Her breathing was quickened due to the random adrenaline rush from the conditions. Her chest was heaving up and down, much like after one had a nightmare. Her turquoise eyes darted quickly around the room, taking in every detail about her surroundings.

She was surrounded by ovens that had yet to be used that day. Wooden and stone counters held empty bowls and plates, some cleaned, others not. No windows were to be found on the stone walls, simply a hole or two for what Khadinah guessed smoke to go out through. Uncut vegetables and drying meats lied around stilly on the cleaned counters, not even an insect buzzing about them. The room was a kitchen and suddenly memories came swirling back into Khadinah's mind.

Her and Kíli had snuck into the kitchens last night to steal some extras for their own "mighty" dinner. But they had ended up eating a bit…extra than what they were planning to. They ended up both eating two servings of somewhat cold deer stew, some ten rolls each, a whole plate of vegetables, and a desert of chocolate pudding. It was safe to say that they gorged themselves satisfyingly. The food was good, Khadinah remembered, but still a little too rich for her stomach which was used to stale bread and some bits of salted meat.

Oh, and they had also drank a barrel of ale, together.

"Fuck," Khadinah swore coarsely under her breath. She reached a hand up to her forehead and tried rubbing her temples, egging the damned headache to subside. Her heart rate had slowed, her breathing back to normal. The adrenaline had swiftly left her body and she could now feel the full swing of her hangover. "Fantastic," she muttered, sarcasm dripping from her slightly husky morning voice.

She slipped her dagger back into its sheath upon her belt and turned her head, wincing when she accidentally cracked her neck. Khadinah swore once more whilst rubbing the newly sore sight. Her eyes searched viciously for Kíli, wanting to know where her best friend was. "Damn boy, makin' me do tha' shit," she spurted profanities, a look of annoyance on her features. Why had she listened to him?

Realizing that Kíli was nowhere to be found in the kitchen, Khadinah sighed. She would need to at least meet him at the training fields. She hopped down from the wooden counter she had been lying on throughout the night and then proceeded to stretch her back and shoulders, getting a satisfying pop at the end.

Khadinah rolled her shoulders as she erased all traces of her and her partner-in-crime ever being in the kitchen. She cleaned all the dishes they had used and placed them neatly by the other clean ones. Then, she picked up the pieces of food that had found their way to the floor mysteriously. Khadinah had to stop herself from snorting as she picked up a piece of cooked and cold deer meat. She then walked over to the counters and swiped them clean, and also rearranging them to look how they were before her and Kíli wreaked havoc in their drunken states. She winced at the thought of what kind of destruction they could've caused had they not passed out from their drunken stupor.

Placing her hands on her hips, Khadinah nodded in satisfaction at the state of the kitchen. It was newly cleaned and looked a lot better than how it had been even before she and Kíli reached it. Not a stain of broth nor a smell of old dishes littered the room and Khadinah smirked. She was a damn good fixer-upper if she did say so herself.

And just as she turned to go open the door, it swung open, causing Khadinah to jump back a little. She didn't want to be in trouble, but she realized that she was too late. Punishment for being in the kitchens was sure to come.

But the person standing in the doorway seemed just as startled to see her there. In fact, the person didn't even look like they belonged there. It was a male, and dwarves didn't do the cooking usually, only dwarrowdams did that kind of work. Of course there were a few exceptions, but this dwarf did not look like one of them.

He was around the same height as her, them being at the same eye-level. He had light blue eyes that seemed a bit hazel to Khadinah at first glance, but as she looked closer, they were more blue than anything. His skin was a little tanned and a small scar that seemed to have just started healing stretched across his left cheek bone. He had blonde hair, a nice color that complimented him nicely. His hair was around shoulder length, the mass of it mainly wavy. Two thick braids were in the front and started right at the tip of his ears and ended with metal clasps much like Khadinah's own. He had thick, blonde scruff covering his jawline and blonde hair reached under his nose and framed his mouth.

His nose was quite large, much like Kíli's in a way. While Kíli's was long, this dwarf's nose was simply…larger. It had a hook and Khadinah, usually not finding those kinds of noses appealing, found his to suit his face. Overall, he was a dwarf blessed by Mahal in Khadinah's books.

Khadinah shook her head, believing herself to have stared too long than appropriate even if she really had stared at him for a few seconds. Khadinah hated staring and being stared at. So she blinked her eyes and suddenly she threw on a nervous smirk.

"Ha, ya tell no one ya saw me, and I'll let ya live another day," she joked lightly, her nerves bundling up tighter and tighter by the second. Out of habit, her fingers twitched towards her dagger but she stopped herself and crossed her arms haphazardly.

The blonde dwarf smirked as well, a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. This made Khadinah both extremely nervous and extremely intrigued. Mischievous as well, eh?

"Alright," he said, crossing his arms as well. "So long as you don't tell anyone I was here, I think we have a deal."

His accent was much like…Thorin's own. It was far more refined but also held the naturalness of his dwarven origins. It was like he was trained to speak properly, something Khadinah found utterly useless. Why learn to speak properly when almost everyone could speak Westron? So what if natural accents were a little hard to discern at points? It's all Westron, so what difference does it make?

But the fact that he had basically struck a deal up with her made her cock an eyebrow. He too shouldn't be in here? Well, now that's interesting.

"And why would ya be sneakin' around?" Khadinah asked, her eyes glinting with curiosity. There was a saying that some elves of Imaldris once told her. _Oh what was it…ah yes! _she thought, raking her brain at first. Curiosity killed the cat, or something along those lines. Elladan and Elrohir would have to teach her those dumb sayings should she ever visit Rivendell again. Those two acted worse than she and Kíli did whilst together, and those two were over two millennium old!

"Well," the dwarf said, leaning against the wooden door frame, one leg cross over the other, hooking at the ankles, "I always come in here in secret and steal some snacks before heading off to spar for the day. Then I come back and steal some of the chocolate pudding if the cooks made any." He seemed so…laid-back about it, that it helped Khadinah relax.

"Lemme guess, the cooks hate ya for tha'?"

A wide smile appeared on the blonde dwarf's face as he nodded his head. "You wouldn't believe the things Matilda says about me," he said, his cheeks rising with his smile. His eyes holding now a look of amusement and mischief. It made Khadinah laugh at the mention of who she could only guess was the head cook.

"Try me," she said, pulling a stool from under a wooden counter and plopping down on it. She then reached around and found another, pushing it the short distance to the blonde dwarf. He was entertaining her for now and Khadinah could never pass up comedic entertainment.

He nodded his head in thanks and sat down on the stool, one arm resting lazily across his thighs as he leaned forward. "Well, this one time, about ten moons ago, I was hungry after a feast and well, if you want extra food, you have to sneak into the kitchens," he spoke, his eyes lighting up it seemed as he recalled the memory. It caused Khadinah to rest both elbows on her thighs and her chin in her hands. "I guess I was a little hungrier than I expected and I ended up eating a whole four slice of cake! I was only on my fifth when Matilda found me and chased me out of the kitchen, telling me I was one of those worms from the Withered Heaths, always being greedy."

This caused Khadinah to laugh. _Dwarves calling other dwarves dragons? How absurd!_

"She compared ya to one of 'em?" she asked, her laughter subsiding slightly but still bubbling within her.

"Aye, called me one of the flightless ones after she caught me. I was so full that I was slowed down by all the cake in my belly. She caught me and dragged me by the ear to my mother, insulting and wounding my pride greatly that day," he laughed at the memory, causing Khadinah to join in with him. His laughter was hearty and full of joy, it was thick kinda like his hair. This thought made Khadinah laugh slightly harder, causing her to receive a curious look.

"Wounding my pride isn't that funny, is it?"

"No, well, yes. But I was uh," she had to play this off, not wanting him to know what she really thought was hilarious. "I remembered a time like tha' I once experienced. It was quite the eye opener."

"Oh, do tell," the dwarf said, making a motion with his hand and a smirk crawling over his lips. Good thing she actually did have a story.

"One time, I was with a few of my friends, a pair of twins tha' were known to mess 'round a lot," she began, thinking fondly of the two elves in Imaldris. "We had just gotten back from a trip through the city and me being me, I was famished. I kept complainin' bout needin' food and real meat. So, them being them, they decided to 'forget' bout me whilst they ate a good ole lunch. I left 'em when I realized what they were up to and sneaked into the kitchens. Not a good idea. It had grown dark by the time I returned and I couldn't see for my life!

"And well, I was snoopin' 'round and found what I thought were some greens," Khadinah then made a face at the memory of the taste of the items she had grabbed. "I was too hungry to realize what it was."

The dwarf opposite her was currently trying to hold back a smile, Khadinah knew this.

"It was mashed up grass with some leaves."

The dwarf she held the company of bursted into a strong fit of laughter as Khadinah said the last sentence like it was a punch line to some joke. But she couldn't help but laugh a little as well, as it was quite hilarious in many regards. Elladan and Elrohir had ended up planting the grass and leaves all over the kitchen, knowing that wherever Khadinah had went, she would only find that abomination of a mash. The worst part was that there was still some dirt on some blades of grass. And Khadinah swore she had felt something slimy slither by her fingers for a second.

"That sounds absolutely wretched," the dwarf laughed, wiping a few tears from his eyes.

"It was. The blokes who I had left had planted it all o'er the damn kitchen," Khadinah sighed in exasperation and ran a hand over her face. "Took me days to wash tha' taste outta my mouth."

"Oh c'mon now, days?"

"Aye, days! How would ya like for me ta feed ya some nice dirty grass and nearly dried leaves?"

"Challenge accepted," he dead panned, a smirk on his features.

Khadinah slapped a palm to her face (creating the term facepalm unknowingly). This bloke was gonna get himself killed one day, Khadinah knew it. He was either gonna get his ear pulled off by Matilda and then bleed to death whilst she called him a 'flightless worm'. Or he was gonna do something so stupid that he was gonna die from it. Either way, it could prove entertaining for Khadinah. So…why not?

"Al'ight," Khadinah shrugged her shoulders, "yer funeral."

The dwarf smiled and stood from the stool at the same time as Khadinah had. He held a look in his eyes, this time not mischievous nor amused. But it was a look of competitiveness. He was ready to win this challenge, and Khadinah couldn't wait to see him lose it just as surely as he thought he was to win.

"What's the prize?" the dwarf asked.

"Prize? Hmm," Khadinah thought for a minute, scratching lightly at her chin, not even fazed by the stubble that seemed to be growing now. "Ya win, ya decide. I win, and well, seeing yer cocky ass suffer is a win enough."

"How about, if I win, ya have to steal snacks for me for…" he seemed to think, "_days_."

Khadinah rolled her eyes at his mocking tone and just nodded her head. "Al'ight, whate'er helps ya think you'll win."

It was then that a door behind them opened, more than likely a servant's door. Servant passages were not uncommon in kingdoms. So as Khadinah turned around, she wasn't the least bit surprised to see a dwarrowdam with an apron tied around her large waist. It seemed to cut into her flesh, causing little rolls to appear. But, what caught her by surprise was the angered look the female held in her charcoal eyes. Her hair was grey, held back by a little cloth tied around to frame her face. Her large beard was one that Khadinah found herself slightly jealous of, but the envy washed away once the dwarrowdam started cursing in Khuzdul.

"Matilda?"

"Matilda."

The two spun around quickly, opening the door just as fast. The door swung lightly as they both bursted through the doorway, each running away as fast as their short legs could carry them.

Their boots pounded against the smooth, stone floors. Their breathing was a little ragged, mainly from witnessing Matilda's rage. Khadinah didn't know where they were going, but the dwarf did, or at least seemed to. It made her feel a little bit better seeing as how Matilda was now suddenly right on their heels. How that old, large dwarrowdam ran so fast was beyond Khadinah. All she knew was that she wished to keep we ear attached to her head, not away in Matilda's chubby hands.

The old female was still screaming Khuzdul at them, waving a fat finger at them both pointedly as she ran. The two had to keep their gazes focused ahead, for if they looked back or at each other, they would stop for a laughter session. Khadinah could already feel the laughter trying to spill out.

"Sharp left," the dwarf said, grabbing Khadinah's forearm abruptly. If Khadinah wasn't half-dwarf, her arm would have been ripped out of its socket. It pulled a bit and made her bite her lip harshly, but she had to deal with it. She began running along side the dwarf again, now on his right.

"Coulda warned me 'fore ya did tha'," Khadinah said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Now, what fun would that be?" the male beside her asked, turning his head as they continued running. A large grin was on his lips, showing his white teeth. This caused Khadinah to roll her eyes yet she allowed a grin to overcome her annoyed features.

The dwarf beside her suddenly stopped, throwing his arm out in front of Khadinah. She stopped as well, though more ungraceful than her dwarf companion. He looked behind them and Khadinah followed his actions, doing the same. Her eyes widened at how much distance they had gained on Matilda. She seemed to have not turned quickly enough and missed the turn. _Must've kept going straight with her momentum_, Khadinah sniggered lightly.

A look of amusement was placed on the dwarf's face as he turned back to Khadinah, the same look upon her face now.

"You trust me?"

"I hardly know ya. I only have managed to gather tha' Matilda hates ya," this response caused the dwarf to chuckle.

"Good."

"Good, wha-"

Khadinah was cut off by a sharp push and she felt herself falling. _The hell did that dwarf just do?! _she thought in rage to herself. What was going to happen? Was she gonna die? Was she gonna really go out like this? A dwarf she had run away with from an angry, fat cook pushing her over a cliff? This was how she was to go?

Khadinah's thoughts were cut off abruptly by icy daggers piercing her skin. And the ability to not breathe freely. It was then that Khadinah realized she was in water, very cold water. She was glad she was not wearing anything too heavy, for she could already feel her clothes becoming heavy from the water now saturating them. Khadinah shook her head slowly, the water causing her movements to be slightly dulled.

She then kicked her feet and pushed water down with her arms, watching as the surface of the water approached calmly. Her head broke the surface and she took a deep breath in, pumping her legs still. She used her hands to wipe away the cold water from her eyes. If the hangover had been just a dulled sensation once meeting the dwarf, then it was definitely gone now.

Her eyes spotted a blurry shore and she swam quickly towards it. The water rippled as her body moved through it and she treaded it. She felt the water become shallow enough to walk and she did just that. Being short had its disadvantages. Where one man could walk in water, Khadinah would still be swimming. It was difficult to get used to at times. She walked up and onto the shore, seeing that the water was in fact a small lake surrounded by forestry. Khadinah looked around and saw only greenery and beauty in nature. A smile appeared on her lips and then she turned around to look from where she had been pushed. It looked to be an unfinished public balcony. The railings weren't even blocking anyone from just strolling right off the ledge. Khadinah hoped Thorin know about that.

She was shaken from her thoughts when a large splash echoed from the lake and water droplets sprayed onto Khadinah. She, out of instinct, shied away at first. But then she simply sighed and tried squeezing some water from her tunic. She watched as the water practically poured like a waterfall from the gray fabric. Khadinah couldn't help but roll her turquoise eyes.

Her attention was then brought to the head that was surfacing from above the water. It was the dwarf who had pushed her. He held an excited and joyful expression upon his face as he swam back to shore. A grin was spread widely across his lips and a laugh was causing his chest to move up and down.

All Khadinah did was cock an eyebrow as she sat down and pulled her boots off to empty them of lake water. The lake wasn't large, more like an over-sized and deep pond really. But it had broken their fall and Khadinah was glad of that. For she would've been in the gardens of Anphera should there not have been the water.

She watched as the soaked dwarf walked onto shore and then plopped down on the grass. He sighed happily and pointed his face towards the beaming sun.

"I'm not sure whether or not to trust ya, or think yer completely insane," Khadinah said honestly, emptying her second shoe and letting it sit by the other to dry.

"Why not both?"

"I don't see why not," Khadinah shrugged her shoulders and looked over at the dwarf who still held a grin upon his face. His hair and braids hung straight now, the wave of the dry hair he had donned now gone. Khadinah then reached up and felt her own hair, having to suppress a groan of irritation. The braids would be bitches to take out and she would need to brush it extra long and hard to get the water and dry knots out of her mass of sopping wet hair.

"Heh, sorry bout the water," the dwarf said, scratching the back of his neck as he sat up. One hand was placed behind him to prop him up. "Forgot the _dry_ way of escaping, so I went for the next best thing."

Khadinah couldn't help but chuckle at that confession as she laid her legs out straight in front of her. Both hands held her propped up and she tilted her head back slightly to enjoy the sun. She then turned to the blonde dwarf and smiled, now enjoying the adventure she had been taken on. "It's fine," she laughed, her teeth showing in her smile. The blonde dwarf mimicked her movements.

He then stuck his hand out and she met him halfway.

"Fíli."

"Khadinah."

She had swore she heard his name from somewhere before, but so many names had been introduced to her that she embarrassingly forgot from where she had heard the name.

"So," he said, letting go of her hand, "how bout that challenge?"

* * *

**_A/N: AHHH! So finally the meeting we have all been waiting for! I hope it all played out well, as I myself enjoyed writing it quite a bit.  
Three updates this weekend…wow.  
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this and I hope Fíli isn't OOC, I just always imagined that he would act this way, even if he had a few bad days beforehand.  
Also, so many hints as to what is to come, they're super subtle so I doubt anyone will get them.  
Anyways…_**

Love,  
P❤


	10. Chapter 9

**_A/N: Hello everyone! Here is chapter 9! I'm sorry for the delay, but college does ask a lot of you and due to it, I have been extremely busy.  
Also, you guys, I don't want to be that person who demands for_**_**comments, but I find it helpful to know what you like/don't like in a chapter, or what you think could be improved upon. It helps my writing immensely and I hate when I'm left in the dark. Just one person reviewing per each chapter would be fantastic!**_

**_Anyways…_**

**_Love ya my little mints!_**

**Disclaimer: I don't wanna go through this whole thing again. Ya understand who owns what.**

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**Chapter 9**

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Kíli sighed in frustration as time ticked by. He had left the kitchens a few hours ago, needing to attend to some princely duties before he could spar with Khadinah today. But while he had finished said duties, he had yet to finish- no, start, sparring with his best friend. He also had yet to greet his brother.

Fíli had come back from a long mission, one that included filthy Orcs. Kíli had heard that his brother went through some fairly intense things on the what-was-supposed-to-be "easy and quick" mission. Kíli didn't know all of the details but he was quite curious and wished to know, as would most people. But Khadinah had been Kíli's top priority and that caused guilt to rear its ugly head. He knew he needed to be there for his brother but he also wanted to ensure that he had as much time as possible to spend with his best friend, even if it meant spending less time with Fíli.

Kíli gave a slight pout as he looked up at the sun, seeing its position high in the sky. Where had Khadinah gotten off to? Surely she had woken up by now, right? There was no sign of her as he looked towards the open hallway that practically led to the training field. And Kíli sat right near the doorway to the hallway, trying to patiently wait for his currently late friend. Khadinah was never late as far as Kíli had seen and he grew worried for her. What if Matilda had found her? Kíli's face then skewed into one of worry and disgust. That dwarrowdam was sure to wreak havoc upon Khadinah should the cook find her still in the kitchens.

"Are ya waitin' fer Khadinah, lad?" Dwalin came over and leaned against the stone brick walls of the castle he called home. Kíli simply just nodded his head, his chocolate brown eyes gazing intently at the opening, waiting.

"She shoulda been 'ere by now," Kíli said, albeit a tad worriedly. He didn't want something bad to have happened and then still be mad she was late. He just wanted her to be here now, as his patience was wearing thin, just like the daylight would start doing so if this kept up.

Dwalin sighed and crossed his large and muscled arms, the tattoos becoming slightly stretched across his tanned skin. "Lad, she'll get 'ere when she gets 'ere. She's a lady, do ya expect her to be fast like a man?" Dwalin asked, referring to the fact that the female sex usually took longer to get cleaned up and ready for the day, even if they were doing something that was taxing on the body, such as sparring or training.

Kíli rolled his eyes and groaned lightly, acknowledging the fact that Dwalin was right even if Kíli didn't want him to be.

"I understand tha' Dwa-"

"Honestly! I can't believe ya did tha'!" a very familiar voice laughed out, causing Kíli's head to snap around. He swore that if he had turned around any faster than he did at that moment, his neck would have been snapped

"I don't know why I did it," another, even more strikingly familiar voice spoke out, disgust lacing it.

Kíli's stomach dropped, he felt it fall from his body and hit the dirt ground. He felt all of his body tense up, limb by limb. His heart thudded in his chest, pounding vigorously upon the bones of his chest. Blood pumped furiously through his veins, rubbing uncomfortably through him. And a deep, burning sensation bubbled in the empty pit that was once where his stomach was. A hateful sensation that made any male insane at points. Unnecessary jealousy burnt his insides crisply.

"Because ya felt bad for pushin' me off a ledge?" Kíli heard Khadinah offer, an unnatural feeling in his body. Why would Fíli push her off a ledge?! Was she injured? Was she going to be alright?

"It was either that or Matilda."

"Never mind," Khadinah laughed out, Kíli catching their approaching figures with his eyes.

A wide smile that only Kíli had seen was plastered on Khadinah's lips. Her turquoise eyes were bright and teary, most likely due to her laughing. Small dimples that Kíli hadn't noticed before appeared by her stretched lips. A hand was placed on her stomach, another on Fíli's shaking shoulder. Her hair was slightly wet, her braids still damp. Her clothes, the ones from yesterday, were damp as well but due to their size, didn't show anything.

They were both laughing. Laughing so hard that they were near tears and shaking. At one point they had to stop walking to try and stay upright. Kíli's hands curled into bruising fists, unbeknownst to him. He didn't know why he was so jealous. Why he felt like punching his brother in the mouth.

Perhaps it was because the two of them looked like they had known each other for years. Maybe it was due to the fact that they could work as a courting pair. Maybe it was because Fíli had once again gotten something only Kíli had had. Maybe, it was because Kíli knew that no matter what, Khadinah would always look at him like a little brother.

That's what broke his heart the most. Sure, he hadn't seen her in Mahal knows how long after only exchanging letters for a few moons. And then it had only been a fortnight since she arrived in Ered Luin. But Kíli had felt like he could just read her like a book written in Khuzdul. He felt like she was the most genuine person in life and that allowed conversation to flow easily. She acted like a sister. She always listened in the letters and in her stay so far. She had always offered words of advice and comfort. She had been there when his mother, brother, and uncle couldn't be. She knew what life was like when deemed an outcast. She knew him and they'd barely known each other for a full seven moons.

That's why it hurt so much.

"Oh! Kíli!" he was snapped from his pity-festival by her voice calling his name.

He looked up and saw his bother and her, their faces slightly red from laughter. A sting echoed throughout Kíli's body.

"Brother!" Fíli said, a wide smile on his face. Kíli couldn't help but smile a little. Even if he was sad and he was once again jealous of his "perfect" older brother, he still loved and had missed his brother dearly.

Kíli was engulfed in a sort of bear hug by his blonde brother, unable to return the hug really. He laughed a little and wriggled in his brother's hold. It was an awkward hug, as Fíli was now a little shorter than Kíli after the time of blossoming in the year. Somehow, Kíli was now about as tall as Dwalin, maybe taller.

"Oh, brother! You had skipped dinners and it frightened me!" he said gayly. A smile was plastered on his face as he set Kíli down, the brunette thankful for the ability to breathe again. "I thought I might've smelt bad or something, but it turns out you were messing around with this little minx," he said humorously, throwing an arm around Khadinah's heaving shoulders. She was obviously still laughing.

It was then that Kíli noticed something. Fíli's breath smelt like mud or dirt.

"Ah yes. But uh, brother, why does yer breath smell like dirt?"

That seemed to trigger something inside Khadinah, as she let out a loud cry of laughter and fell to the ground in a laughing heap. Kíli saw Fíli's face turn a new shade of red, the tips of his ears turning pink. He watched as a hand drew up the back of his neck and scratch lightly.

"Well, uh, brother, you see…" he stumbled over his words.

"He ate dirt!"

Khadinah's voice could be heard clearly. She was obviously struggling to speak due to her laughter, but she had somehow gotten the words out. Her words made Kíli turn his head questioningly towards his brother, who's face had gotten redder by the second. Oh, this was good. His brother was embarrassed. Fíli never got embarrassed.

"Did ya now, brother?" Kíli smirked evilly.

"Well, I wouldn't word it that way…"

"Oh I would!" Khadinah said, tears of joy streaming down her face as she sat up abruptly. "He picked up a handful o' it and sprinkled a few shavin's o' grass here and there on top! Then, shoved it right into his mouth!" she laughed, mimicking Fíli's supposed moments.

Kíli couldn't help it as he took another look at Fíli, who seemed to look the same shade as a ripe tomato. Laughter practically bursted from him.

He forgot the burning jealousy, the nauseating realization, and the awful split-second hate he felt towards his brother. They weren't together, not at all. But seeing them together had made him feel all of those things. Anyways, those were forgotten as Kíli laughed at his brother. He could only feel amusement, joy, and a slight bit of ecstasy. His brother, at the moment, was the most embarrassed he had ever been and it was in front of a girl. That in itself was something that never happened with his brother.

"Ya ate dirt?" Kíli cried out, doubling over from laughter.

"Shut your mouth," Fíli grumbled, his happy face no longer existent. Instead, a pout had overtaken his features.

Khadinah then gave a faux pouty voice, "Awe, is the almighty Fíli's feelin's hurt?"

Kíli and her met eyes for a split-second before each collapsing into a laughing fit on the stone ground. He could only hear faint grumbling and mumbling from his older brother as he laughed. It made him think. How long had it been since he had laughed this hard? How long had it been since he had laughed at his brother's expense or with his brother? Those questions made his laughter slow down to a calm chuckle.

"Both of you act like immature bearins," Fíli's voice broke Kíli from his trance.

"At least _we_ didn't eat dirt," Kíli said, unknowing of Khadinah's one experience with Elladan and Elrohir.

It was then that Kíli caught his older brother's evil smirk.

"Is that so?" Fíli said, looking towards Khadinah's now terrified face and Kíli's questioning one. "Well, it appears that Khadinah here didn't tell you of her incident a few years back, where she in fact ate mud," he said, his lips curling evilly.

Kíli was confused. When had this happened? And why did Fíli know, but not him?

"So, brother, it appears you're the only one who hasn't eaten dirt yet. Lets change that," Fíli said, bending down quickly and scooping up a handful of dirt and mud.

This made both Kíli and Khadinah jump into action. Kíli to escape his brother, and Khadinah…mainly for the chase that would ensue.

Kíli took off into a sprint, heading straight for the training fields, where Dwalin was. He had walked off when Kíli had stopped talking to listen to Khadinah and Fíli speak. Now, Kíli had to track down the older dwarf and use him as protection. He'd rather keep his mouth clean than have dirt fill it.

His dark eyes scanned the fields, looking frantically for his "mentor" of sorts. Archery range… no. Armory… no. Staves… no. Swords… n-yes!

There Dwalin was, his hulking height standing out as he observed the new bearins. They were using blunted swords, the thing every young dwarf started training with. No wood swords. Just a blunt blade that could still cut if sliced correctly. He was so focused on the children and getting to Dwalin, that he didn't see Khadinah cut him off abruptly with a foot stuck into his path.

The next thing he knew, he was face first on the ground. The taste of minerals and some iron entered his mouth as he realized they had gotten him to eat dirt, just like they had. Only for him, some blood was involved. A groan escaped his lips as he pushed himself off of the ground, shaking his head lightly. He was probably going to have a busted lip and bruise on his forehead. He could hear Fíli and Khadinah laughing and slapping hands together. Oh he would make sure they paid.

He sat up and faced them, earning a gasp from Khadinah and a guilty look from his brother.

Kíli watched as Khadinah ran over to him and kneeled in front of him, taking his chin in her hand and using her other hand to lightly trail over his face. It made a smile crawl onto his lips, even if they felt like Mahal pounded his hammer upon them. Her touch was cool and felt nice upon the fresh dirt-burns he had surely received.

"Oh Kee," she cooed slightly, her persona changing entirely. She touched his lip lightly, causing an automatic grimace to appear on Kíli's face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm. Just, wanted ya ta eat some dirt so ya weren't feelin' left out," she said sincerely.

She wanted him to feel like he belonged? Was this her way of making sure he didn't feel left out should they share stories with friends? Of course, Kíli didn't really have friends, just Fíli really. Balin and Dwalin were more so mentors than anything. But, it made Kíli's heart swell tremendously as she said that. Her just saying it made him feel like he belonged with whichever group she chose. Like he could be whoever he wanted, not some dwarfish social outcast. It made him feel better than he had ever been in a while. Fíli could only support so much, but it felt like the support was whole now. And Kíli loved it so much.

His smile was bright as Khadinah tended and hovered over him for a few minutes. But it darkened. Oh it darkened like the darkest night of the year.

Over Khadinah's shoulder, Kíli saw his elder brother. He was staring at the woman tending to Kíli, a small smile on his lips. A look was trying to be smothered in those deep blue eyes of his. But Kíli could see right through his brother. He could see the holes being dug for planting. He could see them getting just deep enough that the seeds could be thrown in soon. He saw that look trying to be pushed down and away. But before his brother could accomplish the task, Kíli had glared at the image in front of him.

It had only been a few hours and already, the nurturing of affections had begun.

* * *

Khadinah felt guilt start to eat away at her gut. She could feel the immense amount of sorriness start to broil in her conscience. She hasn't meant to hurt Kíli, not one bit. She had only had good intentions in mind. The ends justifies the means right? She had only meant for him to feel included, as she was not blind to the glare his brother had received from him. She knew that the name had sounded familiar when she first heard it and only seeing the looks Kíli had sent his brother confirmed her suspicions.

When Kíli first laid eyes on his brother, Khadinah had seen his eyes burning with an unknown emotion to her and his fists clenched so tightly, they were white. What Fíli had done to Kíli to deserve that kind of reaction, Khadinah could not even imagine. Kíli, when they talked about his brother and his jealousy towards him, never seemed like the violent one. But seeing him standing there, looking at his brother like that…it made Khadinah question who these two dwarves even were.

Now though, as she tended to and fussed over Kíli, she couldn't see any of his previous emotions. She could only see a bright smile and a new look in his eyes as he stared at her for a few seconds at a time. It made her slightly uncomfortable but that wasn't the point and it didn't matter what she thought comfortable nor uncomfortable at the moment. It was about Kíli at the moment, as he had been given pain and she caused it. What mattered right now, was making sure he was comfortable and alright.

He only had a small split of the bottom lip, a dirt-burn on his forehead, and a small scrape on his left cheek. Otherwise, he looked fine.

"Ya sure yer good, Kee?" she asked, finally looking back into his eyes. She noticed the slightest flicker of darkness vanish instantly as he looked at her. This made her quizzical, as that darkness had only been directed at…Khadinah indiscreetly took a look back and saw Fíli smiling lightly at his brother. Was it simply a one-sided type of interaction? Was Kíli truly that jealous of his older brother?

"Aye, just a little sore," he said, a small smile on his lips now.

"'Ere, I'll help ya," she said, watching as he made a move to stand but stumbled a tad bit, as he was probably still extremely disoriented from the whole face to the ground impact.

She stood and held onto his elbow as he mimicked her movements, swaying a bit before stabilizing. "Good?" she asked, looking under his slightly longer hair.

"Aye, I'm good," he replied. She hesitantly let go of his elbow and watched as he situated himself just fine into a calm stance. "Though, what am I to do 'bout sparring?"

Khadinah was about to speak before Fíli beat her to it.

"Actually, I was hoping I could test her abilities, see if she was truly worthy of mentoring you," Fíli said, a bit of confidence in his voice.

Khadinah cocked an eyebrow questioningly at the newly proud dwarf. "You think my skills necessary of test? Have ya truly not seen my fight?" she tested. How dumb she was though! Of course he had not seen her fight and needed to test her skills! She was acting like the average female at the moment and it annoyed her greatly.

"Why of course!" Fíli stated, placing his hands on his hips. "My brother only deserves the best and I'll be the one to judge your worth," he said, causing a smile to appear on Khadinah's lips. He truly cared for his brother, she could find no fault in him so far. His voice was so filled with sincerity that it made Khadinah slightly choke up a little. Why would Kíli glare so hatefully towards his brother when his brother obviously loved him like no other?

"Al'ight then, ya can try to beat me in a duel," she said splaying her hands wide and giving a cocked eyebrow look. "But don't go pout when ya lose. I know it's hard to be beat by a girl, but ya get used to it."

Why she was displaying so much bravado? She honestly had no clue. Probably to prove herself to Kíli's older brother and to Kíli himself. She wanted to show both that she could do it and that she was like any other female that most males came across. She wanted to be the different one for the first time in her life and it was probably due to the fact that the brothers would not accept her otherwise.

She felt a hand on her forearm as she began to turn to start for the sword racks. She looked over to her side and saw Kíli holding a scared expression. Why though? "Yer serious 'bout this?"

"O' course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Fíli is very good with swords. Very, very good. He e'en knocked my uncle on his arse one duel," Kíli said, a distressed and panicked look in his chocolate eyes.

"I appreciate the concern, Kee. But I am very talented as well and know how to fight."

Kíli only nodded dejectedly and hesitantly let go of Khadinah's arm. She smiled lightly at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder before planting a sisterly kiss on the side of his head.

"You're like a brother to me, Kee. I will always take your word into account."

Those were her last words to him before striding to walk beside Fíli to discuss with him. And unknowingly, she walked away after she plunged the final dagger into Kíli's heart.

* * *

_**A/N: Alright chapter 9 is done. A little short but simply because I'm facing some awful writer's block rn. Honestly, this is a lot harder than I anticipated. But oh well. Gotta stay on top of it along with my new Mass Effect fanfic. These are my two concerns. Also, don't worry, Fíli is just finding her interesting, nothing more than that, but Kíli reads too much into it.**_

**_Tell me what ya think, both good and bad (or one or the other)._**

**_Love,  
P❤_**


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